However, despite this progress, significant wage gaps between men and women persist—particularly for women of color. So what exactly is the gender wage gap? What drives it? And what does it mean for women and their families? This fact sheet provides answers to these questions and more.
Tell your senators to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would strengthen existing equal pay protections, prohibit retaliation against workers who discuss their pay or challenge pay discrimination, and much more.
Take Action. The gender wage gap refers to the difference in earnings between women and men. When talking about the wage gap for women, it is important to highlight that there are significant differences by race and ethnicity.
The wage gap is larger for most women of color. The wage gaps for each group are calculated based on median earnings data from the U. In particular, the cent earnings figure for Asian women likely underestimates the wage gap experienced by women belonging to many Asian subgroups.
Historically, men have earned more on average than women, but the gap has slowly closed over time. The U. Census Bureau has also analyzed the gender pay gap, though its analysis looks only at full-time workers as opposed to full- and part-time workers. Much of this gap has been explained by measurable factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation and work experience. The narrowing of the gap is attributable in large part to gains women have made in each of these dimensions.
Even though women have increased their presence in higher-paying jobs traditionally dominated by men, such as professional and managerial positions, women as a whole continue to be overrepresented in lower-paying occupations relative to their share of the workforce.
This may contribute to gender differences in pay. Other factors that are difficult to measure, including gender discrimination, may also contribute to the ongoing wage discrepancy. One of the most commonly reported forms of discrimination focused on earnings inequality. Our survey of workers who had taken parental, family or medical leave in the two years prior to the survey found that mothers typically take more time off than fathers after birth or adoption.
Employer practices — such as using prior salary history in setting current pay and prohibiting employees from discussing their wages — compound the problem. Where you live and what you do can also impact your personal pay gap. Policy Center. Know Your Rights. Two-Minute Activist. Donate to support gender equity. Be a part of our Equity Network. Partner with us. Sign up to get timely action alerts You must enable JavaScript to sign up. It can often feel like we teeter between great amounts of progress and none at all.
It gets especially a lot of attention on Equal Pay Day. Over the past few decades, this gender pay gap has been narrowing. The gender pay gap still exists for a variety of reasons, even after accounting for non-gender worker characteristics. When comparing the median salary between men and women, a report from Payscale reports that women earn 82 cents for every dollar men make. So the controlled gender pay gap means that women are making 98 cents for every dollar men make.
In , the controlled wage gap was 97 cents for every dollar a male made. Another important reason is that the effect of a pay disparity gets compounded over time. Yet over the course of decades, it can amount to a significant difference in money earned. In the vast majority of jobs, a pay discrepancy based on gender probably has multiple explanations, many of which fall into one of two categories.
Glass ceilings referred to obstacles that stand in the way of women advancing their careers. An example might include a woman choosing not to apply for a promotion because she knows she needs to work part-time for caregiving responsibilities. For instance, a boss assumes that women are less competent or qualified in a position, and decides to offer a lower salary when making a job offer.
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