Updated: May 5, 2020
Originally Published: Oct. 12, 2016
In a recent Facebook post, Rachel Thompson, the former Chief Marketing Officer at Ivanka Trump’s fashion brand, revealed the uphill battle she faced to secure paid maternity leave after accepting a position at the company. Given Ivanka’s reputation as a champion for working women, one might assume she would readily provide maternity benefits for her employees. After all, Ivanka stood alongside her father when he presented his controversial family leave plan, and she even popularized the hashtag, #WomenWhoWork. But spoiler alert: the reality is far from the narrative.
Thompson recounted her experience, and it’s enough to make anyone’s blood boil. Initially hesitant to share her story, she felt compelled to speak out after seeing a commercial featuring Ivanka and her father promoting their so-called “maternity leave policy.” “I felt like I was going to be ill,” she wrote, as she detailed her experience.
“When I first interviewed with Ivanka, I was two months pregnant. When she called to offer me the job, I was thrilled. But when I asked about maternity leave, she said she would have to think about it, explaining that at Trump they ‘don’t offer maternity leave’ and that she returned to work just a week after having her first child,” Thompson shared.
So, the poster child for the Trump campaign’s commitment to mothers had to ponder offering maternity leave to her own employee? That’s rich. And casually dropping that she was back at work a week post-baby? As if every woman has the luxury of such support!
Ivanka’s #WomenWhoWork initiative is supposed to empower women, yet Thompson and her colleagues had to “fight long and hard” for a mere eight weeks of paid maternity leave. If Ivanka isn’t willing to provide this benefit to her own employees, how can we expect her father to advocate for it on a national level?
Ivanka’s use of her own experience to argue against comprehensive maternity leave demonstrates a glaring disconnect from the realities faced by average Americans. Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s maternity leave plan feels like a throwback to the 1950s, as it fails to address paternity leave or the needs of LGBTQ+ and adoptive parents, blatantly ignoring the evolving family dynamics in America.
“I’m not suggesting Ivanka is a bad person,” Thompson continued. “I understand that some women may feel they can return to work shortly after giving birth, especially with help at home. However, truly supporting parents means advocating for full maternity and paternity leave, as well as acknowledging the needs of all types of families. How can she claim their maternity policy is a comprehensive solution?”
Ivanka’s claim that “the most important job any woman can have is being a mother” is not only problematic but also hypocritical, given her apparent disregard for her employees’ needs.
In conclusion, Thompson urged women to rise up and voice their concerns against the policies and practices that do not support working parents.
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