LIVE: Joe and Jill Biden Host Members of U.S. Women's Soccer Team to Mark Equal Pay Day

President Joe Biden and First Lady Jill Biden hosted members of the U.S. women's national soccer team at the White House Wednesday to recognize "Equal Pay Day" and help set new goals for equality. #EqualPayDay

Equal Pay Day symbolizes how far into the year women must work on average to make up the pay disparity between what men and women earned the prior year. The Census Bureau estimates that a woman working full-time would earn about 82 cents for each dollar paid to a man.

The first couple hosted a roundtable with Margaret Purce and Megan Rapinoe of the U.S. women's national soccer team, and other members of the squad who attended virtually. The president then signed a proclamation honoring the day.

"Doesn't matter if you're an electrician, an accountant or part of the best damn soccer team in the world," Biden said. "The pay gap is real. And this team is living proof that you can be the very best at what you do and still have to fight for equal pay."

The women's team has won the World Cup four times, most recently in 2019. But it sued the U.S. Soccer Federation that same year over wage discrimination. The suit was dismissed in May because the women had accepted a different base pay structure than the men's soccer team. The women's team plans to appeal the dismissal.

"Despite those wins. I've been devalued, I've been disrespected and dismissed because I'm a woman," Rapinoe said Wednesday with the president. "And I've been told that I don't deserve any more than less, because I am a woman."

Jill Biden recounted a personal story, saying she was paid 75% of the amount that her male counterpart made during her first teaching job.

"Our paychecks reflect how we are valued by our employers and even by our communities. How do we value women when they have to work three months and 24 days longer to say to make the same amount as their male colleagues?" she asked.

The pay gap impacts the entire economy in ways that exacerbate other problems, including racial inequality. The National Women's Law Center found that Black women earn just 63 cents for a dollar paid to a non-Hispanic white man, while Hispanic women make only 55 cents. That difference translates into a loss of roughly $1 million in income over a lifetime.

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