Observing Equal Pay Day, President Joe Biden and the White House is welcoming Megan Rapinoe and members of the US Women's National Team on Wednesday.
Equal Pay Day has been observed every March since 2013, which was the 50th anniversary of when President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act. Proponents are lobbying to close the gender gap in pay and job advancement. Data shows that women on average make 82 cents on the dollar compared to men. Women of color make even less than their male counterparts.
Biden is set to address Equal Pay Day from the White House Wednesday afternoon.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rapinoe spoke before Congress about the disparity in pay and benefits for players on the men’s and women’s national teams.
"There's no level of status and there's no level of accomplishments or power that will protect you from the clutches of inequity,” Rapinoe said. “One cannot simply outperform inequality or be excellent enough to escape discrimination of any kind. We don't have to wait, we don't have to continue to be patient for decades on end. We can change that today, we can change that right now. We just have to want to."
