[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 51 (Thursday, March 16, 2023)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 16169-16170]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-05510]


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                         Presidential Documents 
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  Federal Register / Vol. 88 , No. 51 / Thursday, March 16, 2023 / 
Presidential Documents  

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 Title 3--
 The President

[[Page 16169]]

                Proclamation 10530 of March 13, 2023

                
National Equal Pay Day, 2023

                By the President of the United States of America

                A Proclamation

                Despite historic growth, rising wages, and unemployment 
                at a near record low, women working full-time, year-
                round are paid an average 84 cents for every dollar 
                paid to men. Pay disparities are even more pronounced 
                for Black women, Native American women, Latinas, many 
                Asian American women, and women with disabilities. On 
                Equal Pay Day, we call attention to this injustice and 
                the pay disparities that add up to hundreds of 
                thousands of dollars in lost income over a lifetime, 
                undermining financial security for women and families 
                across our Nation. My Administration is working to 
                change that.

                Discrimination accounts for some of the pay gap. In 
                nearly every job--90 percent of occupations, from 
                retail to business to professional sports--women are 
                still paid, on average, less than men. They can be the 
                very best at what they do but still have to fight for 
                equal pay. The pay gap also stems from women's 
                disproportionate caregiving responsibilities for 
                children and aging loved ones, which can force them to 
                forgo job opportunities, reduce their work hours, or 
                leave the workforce at times. And part of it is due to 
                the fact that women are underrepresented in careers 
                that offer good pay and benefits, while fields where 
                they are overrepresented, like teaching and nursing, do 
                not pay what they should, despite being critical to our 
                communities and economy.

                To right that wrong and truly level the playing field, 
                we need to not only crack down on discrimination but 
                also address the systemic issues behind the pay gap. My 
                Administration has been laser-focused on rooting out 
                pay inequity and dismantling the barriers that women 
                face in the workplace and across our economy. When 
                COVID-19 forced millions of women out of the workforce, 
                often to care for their families at home, women's labor 
                participation fell to its lowest level in 35 years. But 
                we sent billions in direct stimulus relief to families 
                to help make ends meet. We provided another $24 billion 
                in funds to stabilize child care providers, supporting 
                working parents. Today, millions of American women are 
                back at work--and a record 12 million jobs have been 
                created since I took office, with many more to come in 
                good-paying clean energy and semiconductor careers of 
                the future. And we are working to ensure that those 
                workers who will power our economy for years to come 
                have access to child care, giving women more 
                opportunities to succeed.

                Meanwhile, I took executive action to raise the minimum 
                wage that Federal contractors are required to pay their 
                workers, directly benefiting tens of thousands of 
                women. I also issued Executive Orders to consider the 
                use of salary history in pay-setting decisions for 
                Federal workers and to promote efforts to achieve pay 
                equity for job applicants and employees of Federal 
                contractors. I have fought for every worker's right to 
                join a labor union and collectively bargain, which has 
                been proven to lift women's wages, and I also signed 
                historic legislation strengthening workplace 
                protections and support for pregnant women and nursing 
                mothers. I will never stop pushing to expand access to 
                quality child and elder care while boosting pay for 
                professional caregivers, who are disproportionately 
                women of color.

[[Page 16170]]

                We have used the power of our example and put women at 
                the head of the table across the highest levels of 
                Government--from the Vice Presidency, to the Supreme 
                Court, to the most diverse Cabinet in our history, 
                which is the first ever to have equal numbers of women 
                and men. Doing so sets expectations for women leaders 
                across the country and in every workplace and shows our 
                daughters and granddaughters that there is nothing a 
                man can do that a woman cannot do.

                But we clearly still have a long way to go. To tackle 
                pay discrimination head-on, I continue to urge the 
                Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would 
                increase transparency, making it harder for employers 
                to justify disparities and easier for workers to hold 
                them accountable. Information is power, and people need 
                to know if they are being unfairly paid. We also have 
                to get more families the support needed for both women 
                and men to lead full careers--including paid family and 
                medical leave and affordable child, elder, and home 
                care so no one in this country is ever again forced to 
                choose between the job they need and the family they 
                love.

                I have often said that a job is about more than a 
                paycheck--it is about dignity and respect. It is about 
                honoring the basic bargain that when you work hard in 
                this country, you get ahead. Equal pay is about justice 
                and fairness and living up to our values and who we are 
                as a Nation. Together, we have to make sure that our 
                daughters have the same rights and opportunities as our 
                sons.

                NOW, THEREFORE, I, JOSEPH R. BIDEN JR., President of 
                the United States of America, by virtue of the 
                authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws 
                of the United States, do hereby proclaim March 14, 
                2023, as National Equal Pay Day. I call upon all 
                Americans to recognize the full value of women's skills 
                and their significant contributions to the labor force, 
                acknowledge the injustice of wage inequality, and join 
                efforts to achieve equal pay.

                IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this 
                thirteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord two 
                thousand twenty-three, and of the Independence of the 
                United States of America the two hundred and forty-
                seventh.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

[FR Doc. 2023-05510
Filed 3-15-23; 8:45 am]
Billing code 3395-F3-P