New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand, the woman who replaced Hillary Clinton in the Senate, spoke last night–and of course it was thoroughly predictable.
Gillibrand reintroduced the Family Act in 2015, which would mandate paid leave for mothers and fathers welcoming new babies to the family or nursing ailing relatives-her assigned topic last night.
We at IWF completely approve of company's providing paid leave in such circumstances (and, indeed, many companies, eager to keep good workers, already do this). But we also recognize that companies have to be governed by their own financial considerations–some companies simply can't offer this.
We also realize that mandatory paid family leave will become a new government entitlement–you see the taxpayer will be called upon to help foot the bill. Clinton and Gillibrand have a slight disagreement over how to pay for this entitlement–Gillibrand calls for a 0.4 percent increase in your payroll taxes, while Hill wants to tax the rich.
If you'd like to know more about family leave, IWF has a lot of good material:
Facts, Not Emotional Anecdotes Should Drive Family Leave Debate, by Carrie Lukas
Gillibrand also offered up this:
Donald Trump thinks that women should just work harder because – and I’m quoting – “You’re gonna make the same if you do as good a job.” Every woman in America knows that’s not true!
I am a woman and I say that what Gillibrand says is untrue.
Trump didn't say that women should work harder but he did indicate that women and men are paid according to the work they do and choices we make. If you factor in our choices (college major, time off for childrearing, hours worked per week, etc.) the wage gap narrows to a few cents.
We all want our few cents but it's silly to go on insisting that employers underpay women because of rampant prejudice. Indeed, young female college grads who aren't married and live in urban centers out-earn their male counterparts.
Gillibrand and Clinton can't face this–it might mean that we do better without their "help" and don't need unnecessary laws that, truth to tell, do more good for Democratic politicians anybody else.