Cosmopolitan’s Prachi Gupta grilled Ivanka Trump in a recent interview as to why her father Donald Trump’s childcare proposal precludes gay men from taking paid maternity leave.
“Paternity leave is said to be a great factor in creating gender equality,” Gupta asked Ivanka in the interview published Wednesday. “So I’m wondering, why does this policy not include any paternity leave?”
Calling the paid leave proposal a “giant leap” forward from the status quo, Ivanka pointed out the policy would be a boost to women in same-sex marriages who need time to recover after childbirth. “It’s critical for the health of the mother,” she said, pointing to a more traditional understanding of the purpose of maternity leave. “It’s critical for bonding with the child, and that was a top focus of this plan.”
The Republican presidential nominee’s plan would guarantee women who give birth six weeks of paid maternity leave, but apparently would not guarantee paid leave for men or for couples who adopt, gay or straight. Current federal law mandates employers provide a minimum of 12 weeks of unpaid leave to mothers and fathers after a child birth, adoption or introduction of a new foster child into the family.
Gupta pressed Ivanka further. “Ok, so when it comes to same-sex–”
“So it’s meant to benefit, whether it’s in same-sex marriages as well, to benefit the mother who has given birth to the child if they have legal married status under the tax code,” she replied.
“Well, what about gay couples, where both partners are men?” Gupta asked.
“The policy is fleshed out online, so you can go see all the elements of it,” Ivanka said. “But the original intention of the plan is to help mothers in recovery in the immediate aftermath of childbirth.”
Gupta kept pressing: “So I just want to be clear that, for same-sex adoption, where the two parents are both men, they would not be receiving special leave for that because they don’t need to recover or anything?”
“Well, those are your words, not mine,” Ivanka replied, laughing. “Those are your words. The plan, right now, is focusing on mothers, whether they be in same-sex marriages or not.”
Apparently frustrated with Gupta’s repeated questioning on the subject, Ivanka added: “So I think that you have a lot of negativity in these questions, and I think my father has put forth a very comprehensive and really revolutionary plan to deal with a lot of issues.”
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