I think all us feminists can agree on one simple principle: equal pay for equal work. So THE WEEKLY STANDARD decided to take a second look at the salaries of employees at the White House with an eye toward any possible discrimination against the fairer sex. During the campaign Obama was knocked over reports that he was paying men more than women at his Senate office. And of course there have been repeated suggestions that the Obama White House has something of a boys club feel to it. Well, the numbers seem to lend credence to those allegations. A little mathematical analysis of the White House numbers (done by WEEKLY STANDARD intern Amanda Valauri, who is paid no more and no less than our male interns) shows that there is a considerable discrepancy between what women and men are paid by this administration. According to the White House report, there are 233 female employees at the White House and 254 male employees. The men, on average, make $83,257, while the women take home $78,729. A difference of $4,528. There are also instances in which women are paid significantly less than their male counterparts to do the same job. For example, there are two Assistants to the Executive Clerk: Sherman Williams and Wanda Neiman. Ms. Neiman makes $71,151, but Mr. Williams takes home $73,183 — $2,032 more. The discrepancy is greater in the Policy Advisor category, with Manasi A. Deshpande (female) making just $54,000 while her male counterpart, Benjamin O’Dell takes in $89,825. There are 26 staff assistants, eleven men and 15 women. The salaries range from $36,000 to $41,000. Two men are paid the top rate of $41,000 while just one woman hits the max. There are instances in which a woman is paid more than a man for the same job. For example, a female researcher is paid $45,000 while her male counterpart makes just $36,000. So if the press were to give the administration the benefit of the doubt on that measure (and, really, why wouldn’t they?), there’s no obvious explanation for why women make less than men on average at the White House. It could be that men hold a greater number of senior posts than women, but surely this administration could have found enough well qualified women to balance out those numbers? Or does President Obama believe that there are just some jobs women can’t do?
