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Administration works to address pay disparities

On Equal Pay Day, the Biden administration is raising awareness of pay disparities that women face in nearly every job, which includes the agriculture industry.

Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, says it offers an opportunity to recognize persistent pay inequities and to mark the work that’s still needed to achieve equal pay.  

“There are really three parts that make up the pay gap. The first is outright discrimination. The president has already announced a series of policies to address that discrimination in the workplace. The other two parts of the pay gap are often less recognized and today we’re focused on both. The second piece that I always point people to is that women are often in jobs that pay less. They’re over-represented in jobs that pay less and under-represented in jobs that pay more. The third piece of the pay gap the Biden-Harris administration is focused on is women’s disproportionate caregiving responsibilities.”

The White House says women are paid an average 84 cents for every dollar paid to men and the pay disparities are worse for Black women, Native American women, Latinas, Asian American women, and women with disabilities.

Klein says the administration hosted a roundtable discussion today with labor leaders, businesses, members of the administration, and equal pay experts to dig into how the administration can ensure women have access to good jobs that pay well and how that contributes to closing the pay gap.

She says there will be ongoing efforts to address the pay gap.

“Building an equitable, fair, and safe workplace; ensuring access to good jobs, union jobs; and addressing the caregiving crisis are high priorities for the administration today and every day,” she says.

Klein says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, CHIPS and Science Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act are creating thousands of new jobs, and the administration needs to ensure women have access to those jobs as well as the training and support needed to maintain them.

In a proclamation, President Biden called on 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.

Audio: Jennifer Klein