Ivanka Trump Doesn’t Understand How The Minimum Wage Works

Ivanka Trump, a woman who has probably never had to live on the minimum wage herself has tried to Ivanka-splain (yes, we just coined that) to the masses why America doesn’t need it.

In response to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's Green New Deal, which includes the Job Guarantee proposal ensuring workers receive a minimum wage Ivanka stated in an interview with Fox News on Monday 'I don't think most Americans in their heart want to be given something'. she continued 'I've spent a lot of time traveling around this country over the last four years.'

'People want to work for what they get, so I think this idea of a guaranteed minimum is not something most people want. They want the ability to be able to secure a job. They want the ability to live in a country where there's the potential for upward mobility.'

Oh Ivanka, you're so worldly. But let's unpack this, because even when you try to get over the fact that Ivanka is speaking on behalf of 'the people' despite coming from a very clear-cut position of privilege, the whole thing doesn't make an awful lot of sense to begin with. I'm sure anyone who has ever been on the minimum wage will be intrigued to know how Ivanka Trump believes upward mobility will be created without a living wage? Because surely the foundations of being 'upwardly mobile' are to be paid enough for your work that you can save, pay taxes, bills and you know - live?

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a woman who actually has tried to make a living on the minimum wage responded on Tuesday by pointing out the obvious on Twitter yesterday, writing 'As a person who actually worked for tips & hourly wages in my life, instead of having to learn about it 2nd-hand, I can tell you that most people want to be paid enough to live,' she went on to say 'A living wage isn't a gift, it's a right. Workers are often paid far less than the value they create.'

The Green New Deal - which has also put forward economic incentives to attack the burgeoning issue with climate change by cutting greenhouse gas emissions called for the minimum wage in America to be raised from $7.25 an hour, the equivalent of £5.44 in GBP (the minimum wage in the UK is £7.38 per hour).

Minimum wage hasn't been raised by Congress in America since 2009. The programme, which Ocasio-Cortezhelped to draft and which has been backed by many leading Democrat politicians also aims to create millions of jobs through a '10-year national mobilisation' and argues that jobs created by a transition to renewable energy and high-speed trains instead of planes will create 'millions of good, high-wage jobs' and providing 'unprecedented levels of prosperity and economic security for all people of the United States'. The plan also makes commitments to guaranteed jobs with 'a family-sustaining wage, adequate family and medical leave, paid vacations, and retirement security' as well as access to healthcare.

Of Ivanka's comments on the Jobs Guarantee and minimum wage Ocasio-Cortez wrote 'Imagine attacking a Jobs Guarantee by saying 'people prefer to earn money.' - which is a good point, because again Ivanka: we're really confused, the whole thing just doesn't make sense.

President Donald Trump aside - Ivanka's politics have been something of a hot topic lately. She recently chose to opt out of joining the many women wearing white in an act of solidarity for women's rights at Trumps State of The Union address earlier this month. Around the same time she was the subject of a live art performance that was staged in Washington DC called 'Ivanka Vaccuming'. In the show which was staged at the Flashpoint gallery in Washington D.C, a live performer depicts Ivanka Trump dressed in a pink dress and stilettos with curled hair, vaccuming a carpet which the audience are invited to throw breadcrumbs onto.

In an interview with The Cultural DCthe artist Jenny Rubell reacted to criticism that the piece was sexist by stating that the performance was designed to question 'our complicity in her role-playing.' In a rare reaction on Twitter Ivanka responded to the piece, stating 'Women can choose to knock each other down or build each other up. I choose the latter.'

And that's great Ivanka, but surely it's in the interest of women's (and everyone's) rights to 'build' marginalized groups up by providing a minimum wage that allows for independence and access to basic necessities like healthcare?