Joseph Robinette Biden

“ Women are on the frontlines as essential workers, particularly women of color, in hospitals, grocery stores, childcare facilities, farms, factories, but they’re still earning less.
More than 2 million women have dropped out of the workforce since the pandemic started — 2 million. And now we’re at the lowest rate of women participation in the labor force that we’ve been in more than 30 years. Let me say it again: The lowest — the lowest percent of women in the workforce — had to go back 30 years to get to where we are today. ”

“ We need the Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act — the bill to remove loopholes in the law allowing employers to justify gender pay disparities. It would help hold employers accountable for systemic pay discrimination. ”

“ The American Rescue Plan is going to cut poverty across the board in America by about 31 percent. And that’s a significant lift up for women. The law provides $360 billion for funding state and local governments. What that means is that’s going to prevent layoffs on jobs often held by women — nurses, teachers, healthcare workers, home healthcare aides — because the states have to balance their budget, because if they can’t — because of the lack of income coming in without the help from the federal government — they’ll have to lay off those essential workers. ”

“ It causes women to miss work, cut hours, and leave their jobs and care for their children and aging loved ones. That in and of itself sows some discrimination. How many men are staying home and doing it, and the woman’s staying in the workforce? ”

“ There’s a lot to do, but together we can ensure that our daughters have all the same rights and opportunities as our sons. And if we’re able to do this, it’ll be transformational for our nation. That’s the goal. ”

“ Right now, if you file for federal income tax, you get up to a $2,000 credit for each child. But if you need help the most, if you’re making a minimum wage job and you don’t have to — you don’t make enough to pay federal income tax, then you don’t get this credit. ”

“ This year — that year, I should say, in 2009, we marked — Equal Pay Day occurred in late April. By late April, women will have made, at that time, on average, what men make in 12 months. They had to go all the way through January, February, March, and April to catch up. That meant that it took women until April of 2009 to earn the same amount of money that a man made in all of 2008. ”

“ Some may even discipline you for asking that. That has to change.
Too often, secrecy is part of the problem. We know information is power. You can’t solve the problem if you don’t know you’re not getting paid fairly. ”

“ And the law also includes $130 billion to reopen our schools safely; $40 billion for — invest in childcare investments; $160 billion to get the country vaccinated and beat this pandemic. All this is going to give millions of women, including many moms and dads too, the freedom to rejoin the workforce and make the career choices that are best for them and their families. ”

“ That’s what this team, all of you, are all about.
Let me make one more point. You know, I’ve told my daughters, granddaughters from the time they got old enough to understand what I was saying — and I mean it: There’s not a single thing a man can do that a woman can’t do as well or better. Not a single thing.
I was among the first senators ever to appoint a woman to the Naval Academy. I was just able to, as President of the United States, appoint two women as four-star generals, who now are combatant commanders. Three out of the six are combatant commanders, and they’re women. Women. ”

“ But because of the American Rescue Plan we passed, if you have two children under the age of six, for example, and you’re making $7.25 an hour — which is the minimum wage that so many people are making — you’ll get a check for $3,600 per child or $7,200. ”

“ When your spouse or your sister is making the same amount of money the man she’s standing next is making, it means that when the hot water heater breaks, you can replace it. You can get four new tires on the car. It means everybody’s life is made better in that family. ”