Weekly
Address: Ensuring Equal Pay for Equal Work
The White House
April 12, 2014
Hi, everybody. Earlier this week was Equal Pay Day. It marks the extra time the average woman has
to work into a new year to earn what a man earned the year before. You see, the average woman who works
full-time in America earns less than a man – even when she’s in the same
profession and has the same education.
That’s wrong. In 2014, it’s an embarrassment. Women deserve
equal pay for equal work.
This is an economic issue that
affects all of us. Women make up about
half our workforce. And more and more,
they’re our families’ main breadwinners.
So it’s good for everyone when women are paid fairly. That’s why, this week, I took action to
prohibit more businesses from punishing workers who discuss their salaries –
because more pay transparency makes it easier to spot pay discrimination. And I hope more business leaders will take up
this cause.
But equal pay is just one part of
an economic agenda for women.
Most lower-wage workers in
America are women. So I’ve taken
executive action to require federal contractors to pay their federally-funded
employees at least ten dollars and ten cents an hour. I ordered a review of our nation’s overtime
rules, to give more workers the chance to earn the overtime pay they
deserve. Thanks to the Affordable Care
Act, tens of millions of women are now guaranteed free preventive care like
mammograms and contraceptive care, and the days when you could be charged more
just for being a woman are over for good.
Across the country, we’re bringing Americans together to help us make
sure that a woman can have a baby without sacrificing her job, or take a day
off to care for a sick child or parent without hitting hardship. It’s time to do away with workplace policies
that belong in a “Mad Men” episode, and give every woman the opportunity she
deserves.
Here’s the problem, though. On issues that would benefit millions of
women, Republicans in Congress have blocked progress at every turn. Just this
week, Senate Republicans blocked the Paycheck Fairness Act, commonsense legislation
that would help more women win equal pay for equal work. House Republicans won’t vote to raise the
minimum wage or extend unemployment insurance for women out of work through no
fault of their own. The budget they
passed this week would force deep cuts to investments that overwhelmingly
benefit women and children – like Medicaid, food stamps, and college
grants. And of course, they’re trying to
repeal the Affordable Care Act for the fiftieth or so time, which would take
away vital benefits and protections from millions of women.
I’m going to keep fighting to
make sure that doesn’t happen. Because
we do better when our economy grows for everybody, not just a few. And when women succeed, America
succeeds. Thanks, and have a great
weekend. |
