The gender pay gap in the United States is a measure comparing the earnings of men and women in the workforce. According to Pew Research in 2024, women earned 85% as much as men, up from 81% in 2003. However when variables such as hours worked, occupations chosen, and education and job experience are controlled for, the gap diminishes with females earning 95% as much as males. The exact figure varies because different organizations use different methodologies to calculate the gap. The gap varies depending on industry and is influenced by factors such as race and age. The causes of the gender pay gap are debated, but popular explanations include the "motherhood penalty," hours worked, occupation chosen, willingness to negotiate salary, and gender bias.
Surveys of members of the American Economic Association in 2000, 2011, and 2021 found a lack of consensus among professional economists in the United States over the statement: "There are few gender compensation and promotion differentials unexplained by differences in career and/or life choices." While slight majorities generally agreed with the statement in 2000 and 2011 (at 60 percent and 55 percent respectively), 59 percent disagreed in 2021.
Brief history In the 1860s, people started focusing on unfair pay, with activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton leading the cause. Susan B. Anthony understood that achieving the right to vote was essential for securing lasting equality for women, as it would prevent them from repeatedly struggling with the same issues. Dedicated to this cause, she tirelessly traveled extensive distances, delivered countless speeches, collected thousands of petition signatures, and organized suffragist efforts to advance the movement for women's suffrage."Suffragist." Official Susan B. Anthony Museum & House, susanb.org/suffragist/#:~:text=Anthony-,Susan%20B.,to%20press%20for%20women's%20suffrage. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024. Despite women earning the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment, the wage gap remained. In 1944, Congresswoman Winifred Claire Stanley proposed a bill against gender-based pay discrimination, but it failed to pass. Significant strides occurred with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which mandated equal pay for equal work, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on gender. However, both included exceptions that limited their impact. In the 1970s and 1980s, advocates introduced the concept of comparable worth, focusing on wage disparities in jobs requiring similar skills and responsibility. Some states enacted pay equity laws, but federal progress was hindered by opposition, including President Reagan's dismissal of the concept. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 made it easier for workers to file wage discrimination complaints by extending the time they have to take legal action, responding to issues raised in a Supreme Court case. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced in 2009 and repeatedly reintroduced, sought to make equal pay laws stricter but faced ongoing Senate opposition. Despite gradual improvement, the wage gap remains, with white women earning about 84 cents to a white man's dollar in 2022—a significant but slow increase from 60 cents in 1960.Daugherty, Greg. "Gender and Income Inequality: History and Statistics." Investopedia, Investopedia, www.investopedia.com/history-gender-wage-gap-america-5074898
Statistics
The Census Bureau tracks yearly earnings, which includes bonuses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks weekly earnings, which does not include bonuses. In 2024, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings of $1,043, compared with $1,261 for men, a female-to-male earnings ratio of 82.7%. These annual averages are unadjusted comparisons and do not control for differences such as work experience, specialization, job skills, or responsibilities. In 1980, women earned 60.2 percent of what men earned. In 1990, 71.6 percent. In 2000, 73.7. In 2009, 77.0. In 2018, 81.1. In 2022, Pew Research concluded that the unadjusted gap has been essentially static for 20 years among the overall workforce at around 20-22%, though it has narrowed somewhat amongst younger workers. Pew also found that as of the end of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to have widened the gap. In the third quarter of 2021, women earned 86% of what men earned in median hourly wages, compared to 85% two years earlier. The overall pay gap reflects that employed women tend to have higher educational attainment than employed men. In 2021, 48% of employed women aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor's degree, compared to 40% of men. Women's earnings are somewhat boosted by this educational advantage, which helps maintain the overall gap.Fry, Richard. "Some Gender Disparities Widened in the U.S. Workforce during the Pandemic." Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 14 Jan. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/14/some-gender-disparities-widened-in-the-u-s-workforce-during-the-pandemic/
By state
In 2016, women's earnings were lower than men's earnings in all states and the District of Columbia according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The national female-to-male earnings ratio was 81.9%. Utah ranked lowest at 69.9% and Vermont ranked highest at 90.2%.
By industry and occupation
In 2003, the pay differences in many occupations were tracked. Women's median average weekly earnings, as a percent of men's, were higher in two occupations. They were "Packers and packagers, hand", at 101.4 percent, and "Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians", at 100.5.
In 2009, when looking at thirteen industries, the lowest was "financial activities", at 70.6 percent. The highest was "construction", at 92.2.Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women's earnings and employment by industry, 2009. Chart data, February 16, 2011.Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women's earnings and employment by industry, 2009. TED article, February 16, 2011. When looking at one hundred eight specific occupations within those industries, the lowest were "physicians and surgeons" (64.2 percent), "securities, commodities and financial services sales agents" (64.5), "financial managers" (66.6), and "other business operations specialists" (66.9). Women earned more than men in four occupations. From lowest to highest, they were "other life, physical, and social science technicians" (102.4 percent), "bakers" (104.0), "teacher assistants" (104.6), and "dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers" (111.1).Ariane Hegewisch, Claudia Williams, and Amber Henderson. The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation. Institute for Women's Policy Research, April 2011.
Also in 2009 Bloomberg News reported that the sixteen women heading companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index averaged earnings of $14.2 million in their latest fiscal years, 43 percent more than the male average. Bloomberg News also found that of the people who were S&P 500 CEOs in 2008, women got a 19 percent raise in 2009 while men took a 5 percent cut.Bloomberg. Women CEOs Earn More Than Men, Get Pay Raise in 2009. Retrieved on September 7, 2010.
Several studies of women in the legal profession reveal persistent gaps in partnership numbers at major American Law Firms. Despite the fact that women have graduated from law schools in equal numbers for over twenty years, only 16–19% of law firm partners are women.
On August 26, 2016 USA Today cited a Forbes report that the Hollywood gender pay gap is wider than that for average working women and that it is worse for stars who are older women.
According to the American Association of University Professors 2018–19 faculty compensation survey, women full-time faculty were paid on average 81.6% of men and these differences are primarily due to men being in disproportionately at higher paying institutions and having higher ranks.
According to a 2020 study by technology job search marketplace Hired, the gender pay gap might be increasing in tech work due to differences in expectations when negotiating salaries.
By education
While greater education increases women's overall earnings, education does not close the gender pay gap. Women earn less than men at all educational levels and the gender pay gap widens for persons with advanced degrees compared to people with high school education.AAUW Report: The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap In 2006, female high school graduates earned 69 percent of what their male counterparts earned ($29,410 for women, $42,466 for men), but women's earnings dropped to 66 percent of men's for those with advanced bachelor's degrees or more ($59,052 for women, $88,843 for men).
By age
The earnings difference between women and men varies with age, with younger women more closely approaching pay equity than older women.Catalyst. Women's Earnings and Income. April 2011.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, in 2013, female full-time workers had median weekly earnings of $706, compared to men's median weekly earnings of $860. Women aged 35 years and older earned 74% to 80% of the earnings of their male counterparts. Among younger workers, the earning differences between women and men were smaller, with women aged 16 to 24 earning 88.3% of men's earnings in the same age group ($423 and $479, respectively).
According to Andrew Beveridge, a professor of sociology at Queens College, between 2000 and 2005, young women in their twenties earned more than their male counterparts in some large urban centers, including Dallas (120%), New York (117%), Chicago, Boston, and Minneapolis. A major reason for this is that women have been graduating from college in larger numbers than men, and that many of those women seem to be gravitating toward major urban areas. In 2005, 53% of women in their 20s working in New York were college graduates, compared with only 38% of men of that age. Nationwide, the wages of that group of women averaged 89% of the average full-time pay for men between 2000 and 2005.Roberts, Sam. For Young Earners in Big City, a Gap in Women's Favor. The New York Times, August 3, 2007.
According to an analysis of Census Bureau data released by Reach Advisors in 2008, single childless women between ages 22 and 30 were earning more than their male counterparts in most United States cities, with incomes that were 8% greater than males on average. This shift is driven by the growing ranks of women who attend colleges and move on to high-earning jobs.Dougherty, Conor. Young Women's Pay Exceeds Male Peers. The Walls Street Journal, September 1, 2010.Luscombe, Belinda. Workplace Salaries: At Last, Women on Top TIME, September 1, 2010.Sharockman, Aaron. What pay gap? Young women out-earn men in cities, conservative pundit claims PolitiFact, April 9, 2014.Zarya, Valentina. Why Women in Their Early 20s Are Out-Earning Men Fortune, April 12, 2016.
By race In the U.S., using median hourly earnings statistics (not controlling for job type differences), disparities in pay relative to white men are largest for Latina women (58% of white men's hourly earnings and 90% of Latino men's hourly earnings) and second-largest for Black women (65% and 91% when compared to Black men), while white women have a pay gap of 82%. However, Asian women earn 87% as much as white men, making them the group of women with the smallest pay gap relative to white men.
The average woman is expected to earn $430,480 less than the average white man over a lifetime. Native American women can expect to earn $883,040 less, Black women earn $877,480 less, and Latina women earn $1,007,080 less over a lifetime. Asian American women's lifetime pay deficit is $365,440.