ICYMI: Vice President Harris Announced New Actions to Advance Pay Equity and Support Working Families

President Biden and Vice President Harris have long championed equal pay as a cornerstone of their commitment to ensuring all people have a fair and equal opportunity to get ahead. They both believe that our nation's economy and the global economy cannot reach its full potential when half the workforce is left behind. Yesterday, the Biden-Harris administration announced new actions to promote women's employment and support working families across the country. The Vice President also led an Equal Pay Day Summit, which was hosted by the Gender Policy Council. The Summit brought together partners across the country who are taking critical steps to tackle pay discrimination, create good-paying jobs, and support families' access to care. Read more below:

Reuters: Biden and Harris announce steps to close gender, racial wage gaps
[Jarrett Renshaw and Nandita Bose, 3/15/22]

U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday announced moves to close gender and racial wage gaps, and boost pay equity for new federal workers and employees of federal contractors. […]

On average, women who work full-time make just 83 cents for every dollar that a man makes, Vice President Harris said earlier in the day. The gap is even wider for women of color, she said. Over a 40-year career, a woman will lose out on about $400,000 and that wage gap is closer to $1 million for women of color, she added.

"Lower wages mean working women have less money - less money to save today. And lower wages mean they receive lower social security benefits in their senior years," Harris said.

The Hill: Harris teams up with women's soccer team to mark Equal Pay Day
[Alex Gangitano, 3/15/2022]

"Obviously you all have been champions in terms of your skill and your dominance in terms of women's soccer but we are here today because you also have been leaders on an issue that effects most women and have effected most women in the workforce, and it's the issue of pay equity," Harris said to kick off the panel. […]

The Biden administration on Tuesday proposed regulation that would prevent federal agencies from using a job applicant's prior salary history in the hiring process.

"Pay transparency creates accountability and accountability, well, that drives progress," Harris said about the order in remarks before the panel. "We can build a more fair, more efficient, and more equitable economy."

NPR: On Equal Pay Day, women are trying to make a dollar out of 83 cents
[Vanessa Romo, 3/16/2022]

That day is March 15, the earliest the occasion has ever been marked.

It's an incremental achievement – falling eight days earlier than last year – that was noted on Tuesday by Vice President Kamala Harris, who appeared alongside players of the U.S. national women's soccer team, which recently won a yearslong legal battle for equal working conditions and fair compensation. […]

"Pay transparency creates accountability and accountability, well, that drives progress," Harris said about the order, adding that it will help "build a more fair, more efficient, and more equitable economy."

AP: Biden urges private companies to help narrow gender pay gap
[Fatima Hussein, 3/15/2022]

"Over the past two years, the pandemic has only deepened these inequities, as caregiving has become more expensive and more difficult to find," Vice President Kamala Harris said at an afternoon event.

"Over a 40-year career, a woman will lose out on about $400,000. For Black women, Latina women, Native American women, that loss in wages is closer to $1 million," Harris said.

The White House Equal Pay Day summit was attended by Cabinet members, company executives and players from the U.S. women's soccer team, who recently won a $24 million settlement with U.S. Soccer in a discrimination dispute.

CNN: White House will announce steps aimed at closing gender and racial wage gaps
[Donald Judd, 3/15/2022]

The Biden administration on Tuesday will announce a series of steps aimed at closing the gender and racial wage gaps, with Vice President Kamala Harris hosting a virtual White House meeting to mark Equal Pay Day. The steps include a new regulation across the federal workforce banning the use of prior salary history in the hiring and pay-setting processes for employees, which the administration said in a fact sheet can "help break the cycle of past arbitrary and potentially discriminatory pay that can follow women and workers of color from job to job, entrenching gender and racial pay gaps over time." […]

"This year, Equal Pay Day falls on March 15, the earliest we have ever marked the occasion. The earlier that Equal Pay Day arrives, the closer our Nation has come to achieving pay fairness. But while we should celebrate the progress we have made, as I have said in the past, we should not be satisfied until Equal Pay Day is no longer necessary at all," he added.

CNBC: Biden moves to shrink gender pay gap for federal employees
[Rebecca Shabad, 3/15/2022]

The White House announced Tuesday that it will propose a new regulation to prevent federal agencies from taking a job applicant's salary history into consideration in the hiring process. […]

"Banning the use of prior salary history can help break the cycle of past arbitrary and potentially discriminatory pay that can follow women and workers of color from job to job, entrenching gender and racial pay gaps over time," the White House said in its announcement.

Vice President Kamala Harris is scheduled to lead a virtual summit marking Equal Pay Day on Tuesday, which will feature administration officials, CEOs and athletes, including current and former members of the U.S. women's national soccer team.