The gender gap in pay has remained relatively stable in the United States over the past 20 years or so. As has long been the case, the wage gap is smaller for workers ages 25 to 34 than for all workers 16 and older. In , women ages 25 to 34 earned an average of 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man in the same age group β an 8-cent gap. By comparison, the gender pay gap among workers of all ages that year was 18 cents. While the gender pay gap has not changed much in the last two decades, it has narrowed considerably when looking at the longer term, both among all workers ages 16 and older and among those ages 25 to The estimated cent gender pay gap among all workers in was down from 35 cents in And the 8-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in was down from a cent gap four decades earlier.
The gender pay gap measures the difference in median hourly earnings between men and women who work full or part time in the United States. It is possible that some measures of economic outcomes and how they vary across demographic groups are affected by these changes in data collection.
In addition to findings about the gender wage gap, this analysis includes information from a Pew Research Center survey about the perceived reasons for the pay gap, as well as the pressures and career goals of U. The survey was conducted among 5, adults and includes a subset of questions asked only for 2, adults who are employed part time or full time, from Oct.
This way nearly all U. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U. Here are the questions used in this analysis, along with responses, and its methodology. 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 the gender pay gap has been explained by measurable factors such as educational attainment, occupational segregation and work experience. The narrowing of the gap over the long term 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.
