Presidential Documents

21149 

Federal Register 

Vol. 80, No. 73 

Thursday, April 16, 2015 

Title 3— 

The President 

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. 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. 


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21150 Federal Register / Vol. 80, No. 73 / Thursday, April 16, 2015 / Presidential Documents 

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. 

[FR Doc. 2015–08956 

Filed 4–15–15; 11:15 am] 

Billing code 3295–F5 


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