Gender wage gap narrowed to 1% in Biden White House

WASHINGTON — Women working in the White House under President Joe Biden earn 99 cents for every $1 earned by male employees, according to an annual report released by the Executive Office of the President, a gap significantly narrower than under bothprevious administrations and the national average.

Nationally, women currently earn an average of 80 cents for every dollar a man earns.

The administration cited the adoption of a pay band salary structure as the "best practice for helping to achieve pay equity," according to the White House. The structure guarantees a set salary according to band level regardless of gender or race.

The average salary for a woman in the Biden administration is $93,752 and $94,639 for a man, a difference of about 1%, the White House reported. Approximately 60% of White House staff are female. That's comparable to the average rate of women (56.2%) who participated in the labor force in 2020, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

President Donald Trump's administration reported a 37% gender pay gap during his first year in office, compared to 16% during President Barack Obama's first year.

The Biden administration is also historically diverse, according to the State Department. Members of racially and ethnically diverse communities make up approximately 44% of the 560 political appointees to the White House. Slightly under 40% of the U.S. population are part of diverse communities, per the fact sheet. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 38.4% of diverse populations are represented in the labor force.

Since 1995, the White House has been required to report the salary and title of every employee to Congress.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Women earn 99 cents for every dollar earned by men Biden White House