[United States Statutes at Large, Volume 129, 114th Congress, 1st Session]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

 
Proclamation 9255 of April 13, 2015

National Equal Pay Day, 2015

By the President of the United States of America

A Proclamation

In the United States, the promise of opportunity is built on the idea
that everyone who works hard should have the chance to get ahead. This
creed is at the core of our democracy, and it is central to our belief
that America does best when all people are able to share in our Nation's
prosperity and contribute to our success. Yet every day, countless women
perform the same work as their male colleagues only to earn less than
their fair share. On National Equal Pay Day, we mark how far into the
new year women would have to work just to earn the same as men did in
the previous year, and we renew our efforts to end this injustice.
On average, full-time working women earn 78 cents for every dollar
earned by men, and women of color face an even greater disparity. This
wage gap puts women at a career-long disadvantage, and it harms
families, communities, and our entire economy. Today, in more than half
of all households, women are breadwinners--49 million children depend on
women's salaries. But our economy and our policies have not caught up to
this reality. When women experience pay discrimination it limits their
future, and it also hurts the people they provide for. It means less for
their families' everyday needs, for investments in their children's
futures, and for their own retirements. These effects reduce our shared
prosperity and restrict our Nation's economic growth.

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Wage inequality affects us all, and we each must do more to make certain
that women are full and equal participants in our economy.
When we take action to help women succeed, we help America succeed, and
my Administration is committed to ensuring women have every opportunity
to reach their fullest potential. The first bill I signed as President
was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the following year--to crack
down on violations of equal pay laws--I created the National Equal Pay
Task Force, which to date has helped women recover millions of dollars
in lost wages. If workers do not know they are underpaid, they cannot
challenge the inequality; that is why we are going to require Federal
contractors to submit data on employee compensation, including data by
sex and race, and why last year I signed an Executive Order prohibiting
Federal contractors from retaliating against employees who choose to
discuss their pay. And I continue to call on the Congress to pass the
Paycheck Fairness Act to protect all people's fundamental right to a
fair wage.
In the last half-century, our economy has changed in many ways for the
better because of the increased participation of women. But our values
are not yet fully reflected in how we pay women. We tell our daughters
that in America there are no limits to what they can achieve--yet their
mothers face persistent barriers to equality and success. We have to do
better because our daughters deserve better. If we come together, we can
change the policies and attitudes that hold women back, and we can fix
this. On this day, we recommit to making equal pay a reality, and we
continue our work to build a world where all our children are limited
only by the size of their dreams and the power of their imaginations.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, BARACK OBAMA, 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 April 14, 2015, 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
April, in the year of our Lord two thousand fifteen, and of the
Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-
ninth.
BARACK OBAMA