Civic Register
| 9.1.17

Ivanka Trump Stops Equal Pay Policy

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What’s the story?

Senior White House adviser and presidential daughter Ivanka Trump has come under fire for changing her official position this week and opposing the institution of Equal Pay rules. But gender discrimination in pay has been illegal in the U.S. since 1963, so what rule is she opposing exactly?

Why does it matter?

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to discriminate according to gender in wages or benefits. But, like many deeply entrenched societal biases, sexism in compensation has been hard to combat, even if it is technically illegal. Following a brief published by the Council on Economic Advisers, which documented the many persistent ways in which women continue to be discriminated against due to gender, the Obama administration instituted new rules in January 2016 to collect data on the gender disparities in pay at companies with 100 employees or more.

The rules were simply a requirement that companies with more than 100 employees submit wage and pay data broken down by gender. The data collection would have been added to data reporting that companies are already supposed to do for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on an annual basis.The data created would have, theoretically, given the federal government information about what industries still lagged behind existing law in addressing any remaining gender-based pay disparities.

If, by collecting the data, companies discovered that there was a gender pay gap in their compensation it was expected there would be wider "voluntary compliance" to the law. There were no penalties or other punitive measures stipulated by the rule.

The rule had not yet taken effect, but was supposed to go into effect later this year.

Ivanka Trump entered the White House championing Equal Pay as a central part of her policy mission, but in a statement issued Tuesday to the Wall Street Journal she reversed her position. Trump stated, "Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results."

The administration agrees with her new position. Neomi Rao, acting chairwoman of the EEOC, made this statement via the Journal, "Among other things, [The Office of Management and Budget] is concerned that some aspects of the revised collection of information lack practical utility, are unnecessarily burdensome, and do not adequately address privacy and confidentiality issues."

Disagreements still exist regarding the "reality" of the gender pay gap, or who should direct efforts to combat it, assuming it exists. Data collected due to the Equal Pay rule could contribute and influence this important conversation. Despite Ivanka and the White House’s objections such measures could still be instituted, but they would have to be called for by Congress. The White House has indicated that furthering equal pay is not a policy priority for them.

What do you think?

Do you believe there is a gender pay gap? Have you experienced it yourself? If the White House does not prioritize equal pay in its policy goals, should Congress? Do you think Congress should call for wage documentation according to gender categories, or any other ‘protected’ categories? If not, why not?

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— Asha Sanaker

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia / Creative Commons)

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