Obama on Equal Pay: 'This Isn't 1958'

President Barack Obama called for more efforts to ensure that women get equal pay on Thursday, saying practices otherwise harken back half-a-century.

“Women with college degrees may earn hundreds of thousands of dollars less over the course of her career than a man at the same educational level, and that’s wrong.” Obama said during an appearance at Valencia College in Orlando, the Associated Press reports. “This isn’t 1958—it’s 2014.”

Obama used his speech to advocate for legislation that would ensure equal pay for equal work. The speech was the first in a series designed to woo female voters, who are an especially crucial bloc for Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections. Obama also continued to defend his health care reform law, citing its ability to reduce women’s health care costs, the AP reports.

He relied on a familiar talking point as a way of relating to Americans: his family. He told the crowd that he has a personal stake in making sure women get ahead, if only because women make up 80 percent of his household—he joked that he has to include his mother-in-law, along with Michelle, Malia and Sasha.

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