Ivanka Trump: 'Women are thriving in the Trump economy'
- Ivanka Trump told CNBC the American economy under her father has helped deliver unprecedented success to women in the workforce.
- "Women are thriving like never before," the senior White House advisor said.
- She pointed to strong employment numbers, as well as efforts on child care and paid family leave.
Ivanka Trump told CNBC on Wednesday the American economy under her father's leadership has helped deliver unprecedented success to women in the workforce.
"Women are thriving like never before," the senior White House advisor said in an interview on "Closing Bell."
Ivanka Trump, who was speaking to CNBC ahead of an event to mark the one-year anniversary of Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, said there is ample evidence of that success under President Donald Trump.
She said unemployment rates for women are the lowest they've been in 75 years. In September, the unemployment rate for women was 3.4%, reaching its lowest figure since September 1953.
The rate has stayed close to that since, registering at 3.5% in January. It was 4.7% in January 2017, the month her father was inaugurated.
Ivanka Trump also noted women accounted for more of the workforce than men for only the second time in U.S. history, pointing to Labor Department figures released in January. Those numbers showed women held 50.04% of jobs in December.
And in 2019, she said, 72% of new jobs secured went to women.
These successes stem from "the fact that we've backed policies that not only create the growth, but enable that type of economic opportunity," she said.
One way the administration has done so is by recognizing "the complexity of being a woman by supporting high-quality child care for parents who are working and can't afford it," she added. "That is an undeniable work-related expense."
She called attention to the "largest-ever expansion" of the Child Care and Development Block Grant, a $2.37 billion increase that Congress approved in 2018.
And more recently, President Trump in December signed into law a bill that gave 2.1 million nonmilitary federal workers 12 weeks of paid leave.
"We've moved the ball more on paid family leave than in the 25 years since FMLA was passed," she said, referencing the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.
"So women are thriving in the Trump economy," she said. "And our track record ... of success backs that up."
She pushed back on the suggestion that the Trump administration was not supportive of women.
Critics point to the administration's strong anti-abortion stances, as well as the president's history of making demeaning comments on the appearances of women.
They also highlight the leaked 2005 "Access Hollywood" tape, in which her father brags about grabbing women's genitals, and the numerous allegations of sexual assault against him. The president denies those allegations.
Also Wednesday, Ivanka Trump announced that Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H., are working to codify into law her Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.
Graham are seeking to pass legislation that would establish economic empowerment of women an official U.S. foreign policy goal.
In the 12 months since the initiative launched, an estimated 12 million women in the developing world have been impacted through funding and other partnerships, Ivanka Trump said.
The goal is to reach 50 million women by 2025.