SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Women working in the Trump White House make 80 cents for every dollar their male counterparts make. (Photo: Alex Wong/Getty)
Payroll Data Shows Wider-Than-Average Gender Pay Gap in Trump White House
Most high-paying White House jobs are filled by men, report shows
Jul 04, 2017
Days after the White House announced that it had ceased operations of its Council on Women and Girls, the Trump administration released data on its staff members' pay. The data showed that female staffers face a bigger gender pay gap than American women on average, as well as women who worked in the White House previously.
According to recently-released salary data, women working in the administration earn an average salary of 80 cents for every dollar that men earn. On average, women in the overall U.S. workforce make 82 cents on the dollar.
The disparity appears to be directly linked to the question of who works in the upper ranks of the White House staff. Out of the 22 staff members making the highest annual salary of $179,700, only six are women.
200 men and 177 women work as aides, advisers, and other staff members in the administration. Half of the men on President Trump's payroll earn at least $115,000 per year, while less than half half of the women make that amount or higher.
Data on former president Barack Obama's administration showed female staffers faring significantly better. Though still a troubling disparity, the Washington Post reported in 2014 that men in the White House earned a median salary that was 13 percent higher than women.
On average, the difference between male and female salaries in the general economy is 23.5 percent, and in the current White House it's 45 percent.
Earlier this year, Trump was criticized when he quickly announced he would revoke the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order that Obama signed in 2014, requiring companies under federal contract to maintain transparency regarding employees' salaries.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Days after the White House announced that it had ceased operations of its Council on Women and Girls, the Trump administration released data on its staff members' pay. The data showed that female staffers face a bigger gender pay gap than American women on average, as well as women who worked in the White House previously.
According to recently-released salary data, women working in the administration earn an average salary of 80 cents for every dollar that men earn. On average, women in the overall U.S. workforce make 82 cents on the dollar.
The disparity appears to be directly linked to the question of who works in the upper ranks of the White House staff. Out of the 22 staff members making the highest annual salary of $179,700, only six are women.
200 men and 177 women work as aides, advisers, and other staff members in the administration. Half of the men on President Trump's payroll earn at least $115,000 per year, while less than half half of the women make that amount or higher.
Data on former president Barack Obama's administration showed female staffers faring significantly better. Though still a troubling disparity, the Washington Post reported in 2014 that men in the White House earned a median salary that was 13 percent higher than women.
On average, the difference between male and female salaries in the general economy is 23.5 percent, and in the current White House it's 45 percent.
Earlier this year, Trump was criticized when he quickly announced he would revoke the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order that Obama signed in 2014, requiring companies under federal contract to maintain transparency regarding employees' salaries.
Days after the White House announced that it had ceased operations of its Council on Women and Girls, the Trump administration released data on its staff members' pay. The data showed that female staffers face a bigger gender pay gap than American women on average, as well as women who worked in the White House previously.
According to recently-released salary data, women working in the administration earn an average salary of 80 cents for every dollar that men earn. On average, women in the overall U.S. workforce make 82 cents on the dollar.
The disparity appears to be directly linked to the question of who works in the upper ranks of the White House staff. Out of the 22 staff members making the highest annual salary of $179,700, only six are women.
200 men and 177 women work as aides, advisers, and other staff members in the administration. Half of the men on President Trump's payroll earn at least $115,000 per year, while less than half half of the women make that amount or higher.
Data on former president Barack Obama's administration showed female staffers faring significantly better. Though still a troubling disparity, the Washington Post reported in 2014 that men in the White House earned a median salary that was 13 percent higher than women.
On average, the difference between male and female salaries in the general economy is 23.5 percent, and in the current White House it's 45 percent.
Earlier this year, Trump was criticized when he quickly announced he would revoke the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces executive order that Obama signed in 2014, requiring companies under federal contract to maintain transparency regarding employees' salaries.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.