THE WHITE HOUSE AT WORK
Thursday, May 11,
2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON:
TAKING NEW ACTIONS TO ENSURE EQUAL PAY
"Equal pay is about more than dollars and cents. It's about right and
wrong, because it's wrong when women still earn about 75 cents for every dollar
earned by a man in the same line of work; it's wrong that average female
workers have to work an extra 17 weeks to catch up to the wages of average male
workers."
President Bill Clinton
Thursday, May 11, 2000
Today at the White House, on National Equal Pay Day, President Clinton
released a new report by his Council of Economic Advisers on the wage gap in
the new economy, particularly in the field of information technology. The
President announced several new measures to narrow the wage gap for women,
including a $20 million investment by the National Science Foundation in his
FY2001 budget to remove barriers to career advancement for women scientists and
engineers, and a new Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Task Force on
Equal Pay. The President also renewed his call to Congress to support his $27
million Equal Pay Initiative and to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act to combat
unfair pay practices against women.
Releasing a New Report on the Wage Gap. The CEA report announced
today, “Opportunities and Gender Pay Equity in New Economy
Occupations,” outlines women's progress in the new economy, particularly
in the field of information technology. Major findings of the report include:
- Employment in certain IT occupations, such as computer scientists,
programmers, and operators, has grown by more than 80 percent since 1983;
- Women are underrepresented in the IT field: fewer than one out of
three of these higher-paying, high-tech jobs are filled by women; and
- The wage gap in these IT jobs (after controlling for education, age,
and occupation) is about 12 percent, similar to the gap estimated for the
general labor market.
The report concludes that one pivotal way to narrow the wage gap is to
encourage employers and others to recruit and train women for careers in IT.
Proposing New Measures to Promote Equal Pay. Today – Equal
Pay Day – is the day on which American women's wages, added to their
previous year's earnings, equal what men make in just one calendar year. To
commemorate Equal Pay Day, the President announced new actions to help bridge
the wage gap:
- A new FY2001 budget initiative under which the National Science
Foundation will provide $20 million in grants to post-secondary institutions
and partner organizations to promote the full participation of women in science
and technology fields; and
- A new equal pay task force under the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission to ensure that EEOC field staff have the full range of support they
need to effectively investigate charges of pay discrimination and to take
appropriate action where discrimination has occurred
Calling on Congress to Support Equal Pay. The President renewed
his call to Congress to send the message that wage discrimination is
unacceptable by:
- Supporting his $27 million Equal Pay Initiative, which will help end
wage discrimination by educating employers and employees on their rights and
responsibilities under equal pay laws, and by training women in non-traditional
jobs including in the high technology industry; and
- Passing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which will strengthen laws
prohibiting wage discrimination
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