by Penna Dexter

During the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ivanka Trump gave a well-received speech introducing her father, Donald Trump. In it she proposed a policy that’s not a typical stance taken by Republicans, nor is it part of the official GOP platform. Citing statistics regarding the differences between the pay of men and women in the workforce, she made the valid point that, “As researchers have noted, gender is no longer the factor creating the greatest wage discrepancy in this country, motherhood is.” Ivanka promised, “My father will fight for equal pay for equal work.” And, she promised, “he will focus on making quality childcare affordable and accessible for all.”

These are the wage stats Ivanka gave in her speech: In 2014, women earned 83 cents for every dollar earned by a man. Single women earned 94 cents for every dollar a man earned. Married mothers earned 77 cents.

Scholar and author Christina Hoff Summers points out that “the 23-cent gender pay gap is simply the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working full time. It does not account for differences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure or hours worked per week.” These factors are not insignificant. In fact, study after study has shown that when men and women follow the same career paths and spend similar amounts of time in the work force, the pay gap shrinks to statistical noise.

Married mothers who work full time make 77 cents versus a man’s dollar because they are mothers and because they have chosen career paths that also allow them to function as wives and moms. This is not a problem that needs a solution. There is nothing wrong with the system. Any leader that tries to cure this non-problem will only be able to do it through federal regulation mandating equal pay for all employees. This is the stuff of totalitarian planned economies and not a policy conservatives should support.

And neither is Ivanka’s other promise that her father, if elected, will push for “affordable childcare.” We do NOT want the government to make childcare its business. Government should have less sway, not more control, over kids and how they are cared for and educated.

When a woman becomes a mom, her life changes. I experienced this. My kids are now living it. Young mothers in the workforce make necessary and hopefully well-thought-out choices that place their children’s welfare above career. Financial realities make certain trade-offs necessary. If you are a mom, you faced choices. You either quit your job to raise your kids, went part time, got free help from family, paid for childcare, or paid A LOT for childcare that allowed you to fully pursue your career as if you had no children. Increasingly, fathers are providing the primary childcare so mom can be the primary breadwinner.

This is called life and the government should just let it be.