US President signs executive order to tackle gender pay gap

Apr 09, 2014 News

Surrounded by women rights and equality advocates, United States President Barack Obama yesterday signed directives that draw attention to women’s wages and the right for state workers to get information about workplace compensation.
The executive order which was signed at the White House and coincided with the annual “National Equal Pay Day” observance, addresses the issue of unequal pay among gender wage gap by mandating that contractors publish wage data — by gender and race — to ensure compliance with equal-pay laws. The administrative order also prohibits contractors from retaliating against employees who compare salaries.

President Obama signs the Equal Pay order in the presence of women’s rights advocates.

Pointing out that half a century after the Equal Pay Act was signed in that country, women are still earning less than men. Obama charged that, “Restoring opportunity for all has to be our priority, making sure the economy rewards hard work for every single citizen…”
“We are going to work to make sure that our daughters have the same chance to pursue their dreams as our sons,” he added. The President urged the businesses community and the government to do more to hire women and achieve gender equality in a bid to lift families out of poverty and allocate more resources to childcare, college tuition and retirement savings.
“We don’t have second class citizens in this country,” the President posited. A report from the US National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) recorded that on average, women earn only about 77 cents on the dollar compared with men. African-American women and Latinas take home even less, just 64 cents and 54 cents, respectively, for every dollar earned by white men. These number the President “embarrassing,” and “wrong.”
Mr. Obama responded to the critics. “Some commentators are out there saying that the pay gap doesn’t even exist,” he said. “They say it’s a myth. But it’s not a myth. It’s math.”
The president lambasted Republicans for opposing “any efforts to even the playing field for working families.” He added: “I don’t know why you would resist the idea that women should be paid the same as men and then deny that that’s not always happening out there. If Republicans in Congress want to prove me wrong, if they want to show that in fact they do care about women being paid the same as men, then show me. They can start tomorrow.”
A report from the American Association of University Women (AAUW) related that one year after graduation, women earn 7 percent less than men. Differences in hours, occupation; sector, college major and other factors do not fully account for the difference in pay, the report said. About one-third of the pay gap remains unexplained, and according to the report, researchers ascribed that differential to gender discrimination.
The AAUW report related further that matters such as pregnancy leave and part-time positions adversely affect women’s paychecks, which amount to about 90 percent of what men make until women reach age 35; after that, median earnings for women drop to 75 to 80 percent of what men are paid. It was mentioned also that 40 percent of households with children under 18 years old, include mothers who are the primary source of income; and with a median annual income, they make up majority of the group.