Gender pay gap within the White House worse than the national average: report

The gender pay gap within the White House is reportedly worse than the national average, according to an analysis by nonprofit news organization The 19th.

Analysis by the website found salaries in President Trump’s White House had a $33,300 difference between the median salary for male staffers and the median salary for female staffers.

This year, male staffers earned a median salary of around $106,000, and female staffers’ median was about $72,700.

The statistics indicate women working for the administration make around 69 cents on the male dollar, which is less than the national gender pay gap of 82 cents on the dollar.

Still, both the national numbers and the White House numbers reflect the “raw” gender pay gap, which does not account for experience, education, title or other factors that play into one’s financial earnings.

“To avoid addressing structural and institutional gender discrimination in terms of pay equity, the go-to is to talk about position and title when, in fact, that’s not what’s driving pay inequity,” said C. Nicole Mason, the president and CEO of the Institute for Women’s Policy Research.

Mason says that the gender pay gap is being determined by “decisions that are being made from the top down about the valuing of women’s work and how much they should be paid.”

The 19th reported Women in the Obama administration were paid roughly between 84 and 89 cents for every dollar earned by male staffers.

Conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute (AEI) reported salaries differed somewhat greatly between the Trump administration and Obama’s. The Obama administration paid women 89 cents on the dollar in 2016, compared to 63 cents on the dollar during Trump’s first year in office.

“There is no absence of qualified women,” Mason said. She added that during Obama’s terms in office the administration made a more concerted effort to place women in senior leadership positions. 

In 2016, more women than men earned $100,000 in the White House under Obama.