Just as Equal Pay Day brings attention to the disparity in pay for men and women, it could be useful to also establish an Equal Housework Day to benchmark the progress men are making performing household and caregiving tasks.

CNN: Why men should share equally in housework

These latter measures could begin to get companies to be proactive about equal pay, not just asking them to deal with it at the point that a lawsuit is brought against them.

FORBES: Dear President Obama: Want Equal Pay for Equal Work? Here's Where to Start.

Demand Equal Pay for Women is just a page of data, though its developers have done some of their own calculations on top of the public data, and the site has some good statistics: closing the gender pay gap, they say, would add half a trillion dollars to the consumer economy.

FORBES: How much do you know about the gender pay gap?

Change is the first legislation that I signed into law, the Lilly Ledbetter Act that has a very simple principle -- (applause) -- women should get paid an equal day's pay for an equal day's work, and our daughters should be treated just like our sons when it comes to the workplace. (Applause.) That's what change is.

WHITEHOUSE: Remarks by the President at a Campaign Event