President Obama on Equal Pay

Elanna Cahn — March 21, 2014 – 9:42 am | Women's Leadership Network | Barack Obama | Domestic Policy | Economy | Women's Issues Comments (0) Add a comment

On Thursday, President Obama addressed a group of students at Valencia College in Orlando, Florida. He spoke about Equal Pay, and the consequences to the country when women are paid less than men for the same work.

“When women make less than men, that hurts their families, including their partners, their husbands, their kids. They have got less to get by on. It hurts businesses, because now their customers have less to spend,” the President said. “When any of our citizens cannot fulfill their potential for any reason - that does not have to do with their talent or character or work ethic - that is holding us back.”

Thursday’s event was the first of five regional forums on women’s issues that will culminate in the White House Summit on Working Families in June. Senior administration officials will host events in Denver, Chicago, San Francisco, Boston, and New York City.

The President said he had a personal stake in seeing women get ahead because his household is made up of 80% women. He wants to make it easier for his daughters in the future.

“I want to make sure that my daughters are getting the same chances as men. I do not want them paid less for doing the same job as some guys doing. When they have children, I want to make sure they are not having to quit their jobs, or, you know, in some other fashion be hampered, because we don’t have the kinds of policies in this country that support them,” he said.

For more on the President’s remarks, click here

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