[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 32, Number 15 (Monday, April 15, 1996)]
[Pages 651-652]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Proclamation 6883--National Pay Inequity Awareness Day, 1996

April 11, 1996

By the President of the United States

of America

A Proclamation

    More than three decades after the passage of the Equal Pay Act and 
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, women and people of color continue to 
suffer the consequences of unfair pay differentials. In comparing median 
weekly earnings, last year American women earned only 75 cents for every 
dollar a man brought home, with African American women and Hispanic 
women collecting just 66 cents and 57 cents, respectively. Significant 
wage gaps exist for African American and Hispanic men, Asians, Pacific 
Islanders, and Native Americans as well.
    April 11 is the day on which American women's wages for 1996, when 
added to their entire 1995 earnings, finally equal what men earned in 
1995 alone. Unfair pay practices exist at all education levels and in 
every occupation. Last year, women physicians and lawyers earned 
substantially less than their male counterparts. The problem is 
particularly acute in female-dominated professions and in jobs where 
minority groups are disproportionately represented. Though changing 
technologies and a growing demand for services have made their positions 
increasingly vital, America's child care providers, secretaries, textile 
workers, telephone operators, social workers, and maintenance people are 
among those who bear the greatest wage discrepancies.
    Ensuring fair pay is an essential part of helping women and their 
families become and remain self-sufficient. According to 1993 data, the 
vast majority of households depend on the wages of a working mother, and 
12 percent of all families are supported by a woman working as the 
single head of household. Studies show that salary inequities often 
force women to turn to public assistance to keep a roof over their 
children's heads and food on the table.
    Fair pay equity policies can be implemented simply and without 
incurring undue costs. Twenty States have already established programs 
aimed at increasing the wages of employees in female-dominated jobs, and 
many private sector businesses have implemented voluntary policies. 
These employers understand that fair pay is an invaluable human resource 
management tool that helps attract and retain the best workers.
    At the Fourth World Conference on Women held in Beijing, China, the 
United States joined more than 180 other countries to address problems 
facing women and to promote workers' basic rights. This was an important 
step, and we must build on it to further the dialogue about fair pay and 
treatment in this country. Women and minority workers have long fueled 
our Nation's progress, and we must do all we can to recognize their 
achievements and to leave a legacy of equality and justice for their 
children to cherish.
    Now, Therefore, I, William J. Clinton, President of the United 
States of America, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the 
Constitution and laws of the United States, do hereby proclaim April 11, 
1996, as National Pay Inequity Awareness Day. I call upon Government 
officials, law enforcement agencies, business and industry leaders, 
educators, and all the people of the United States to recognize the full 
value of women's skills and contributions to the labor force. I urge all 
employers to review their wage-setting practices and to see that their 
employees, particularly women and people of color, are paid fairly for 
their work.
    In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eleventh day of 
April, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and ninety-six, and of 
the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and 
twentieth.
                                            William J. Clinton

[Filed with the Office of the Federal Register, 10:15 a.m., April 12, 
1996]

Note: This proclamation was published in the Federal Register on April 
15.

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