Joe Biden, Megan Rapinoe team up in fight for equal pay

WASHINGTON: Football star Megan Rapinoe has joined US President Joe Biden at the White House to promote equal pay for women and men.

Rapinoe, 35, has been part of a long-running fight for the US Women's National Team (USWNT) to be paid as much as their male counterparts, DPA news reports.

She said at an event at the White House on Wednesday that despite her numerous career wins, including a Ballon d'Or Feminin, two World Cups and an Olympic Gold, "I've been devalued, I've been disrespected and dismissed because I'm a woman and I've been told I don't deserve any more than less because I am a woman".

"For each trophy, of which there are many, and for each win, for each tie and for each time that we play, it's less," Rapinoe added, stressing the need for policies supporting equal pay.

During the event, First Lady Jill Biden also revealed that when she first started teaching she was earning just 75 per cent of what a man hired at the same time earned.

"A job is so much more than a paycheck, but our paychecks reflect how we are valued by our employers and even by our communities," the First Lady said.

"Equal work deserves equal pay no matter who does it."

The President meanwhile stressed how the coronavirus pandemic exacerbated the gender gap.

"It undermines financial security for women and families. It hurts our entire economy.

"My administration is going to fight for equal pay ... It's about justice, it's about fairness, it's about living up to our values," he said.

The event took place on "Equal Pay Day", which marks how much longer women typically have to work to match what men make in a single year.

US women working full-time year-round are typically paid just 82 cents for every dollar paid to men. IANS

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