Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |1

Women’s Earnings and the Wage Gap

Highlights

 The gender earnings ratio (women’s earnings as a percentage of men’s) for full-time, 

year-round workers improved from 60.2 percent in 1980 to 79.6 percent in 2015. 

 Progress towards closing the disparity between women’s and men’s earnings was 

greatest during the 1980s, but slowed during the 1990s and 2000s.

 The earnings disparity between women and men is narrowest for young workers 

ages 25-34 and widest for workers ages 55 to 64.

 White, non-Hispanic and Asian women out-earn Black and Hispanic women.

 The gender wage gap among those with the highest level of educational attainment 

is larger than the average wage gap for all workers. 

 Black and Hispanic women with a bachelor’s degree have lower median weekly 

earnings than Asian and White women with the same educational level.

 Among full-time female workers, the inflation-adjusted median weekly earnings of 

those who did not complete high school fell by 9.7 percent between 1979 and 2015, 

while the inflation-adjusted median weekly earnings of those with at least a 

bachelor’s degree increased by 32.2 percent. 

 Women who are members of unions or covered by union contracts have much 

higher earnings and greater access to employer-provided pensions and health 

insurance than women who are not.

 In 2015, women were over sixty percent of workers paid at or below the federal 

minimum wage, and they were the majority of full-time workers who earned less 

than $400 per week.
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |2

Introduction 

In 2015, there were 163.2 million women and girls in the United States, 50.8 percent of the 

population1. Women are slightly under half (46.8%) of the 157.1 million workers in the civilian labor 

force, a steep increase from 1960 when they were just one in three (33.4%) of workers2. 

During the last 35 years, as women have increased their time in the labor market and attained higher 

levels of education and professional qualifications, women’s earnings have increased substantially

and the gender wage gap has narrowed. Although the gap between women’s and men’s median 

earnings has decreased, women continue to earn substantially less than men. This publication 

provides data on women’s earnings and the gender wage gap.

The publication presents an overview of the following topics:

 Women’s earnings and the gender wage gap: Women’s earnings have generally increased since 1980, 

causing the wage gap to decrease.

 Different measures of the gender earnings ratio: using different data sources with different 

populations leads to natural variation in the gender earnings ratio. The most common measure uses 

median annual earnings of full-time year round (FTYR) workers, where the gender earnings ratio is 

79.6%. In other words, FTYR working women earned 79.6% of FTYR working men in 2015.

 Major explanations for the gender wage gap: Occupational segregation, or the tendency of women 

and men to work in different occupations, explains much of the wage gap. Overwork, caregiving 

responsibilities, and other factors also drive the wage gap.

 Earnings by selected demographic and employment characteristics: Women’s earnings have increased 

in every racial and ethnic group, nativity, and level of educational attainment since 1980, but remain 

lower than men’s earnings.

 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |3

Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap 

In 2015, the median annual earnings of 

women working full-time, year-round

were $40,742 compared with men’s

$51,212.

3

This means that women 

earned only 79.6 cents for every dollar 

earned by a man for full-time, yearround work, corresponding to a gender 

wage gap of 20.4 percent. Figure 3.1 

shows women’s and men’s inflationadjusted median annual earnings for 

full-time year-round workers, as well as 

the gender earnings ratio from 1980 to 

2015. During this period, the gender 

wage gap was widest in 1981, when 

women earned only 59.2 percent of 

men’s earnings. The wage gap has since 

decreased by over 20 percentage 

points. Progress towards closing the 

gender wage gap was particularly 

strong during the 1980s, but has stalled 

in more recent years (Figure 3.1). 

Key Terms 

Gender earnings ratio: women’s median earnings as a percentage of 

men’s.

A gender earnings ratio of 100.0 indicates gender parity in earnings, 

and a gender wage gap of 0. In other words, women’s and men’s 

earnings would be equal.

Wage gap (or earnings disparity): the difference in women’s median 

earnings relative to men’s 

Real earnings: earnings adjusted to consider the impact of inflation. 

Used when comparing earnings in two or more time periods (also 

referred to as “inflation-adjusted earnings”)

Full-time work: 35 hours or more per week

Year-round work: at least 50 weeks per year

Median earnings: the midpoint of the earnings distribution; half of 

all workers earn less and half earn more than this point
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |4

Changes in the gender earnings ratio reflect changes in both men’s and women’s median annual 

earnings. Men’s real median annual earnings have stagnated and are roughly equivalent to men’s 

earnings in 1980. Women’s real median annual earnings, by contrast, rose during the 1980s and 1990s, 

reflecting women’s gains in educational attainment and increased labor force participation rates 

(particularly among mothers). Women’s higher earnings also reflect improvements in access to better 

jobs, which may be due in part to changes in federal laws, including Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and 

Executive Order 11246 (which applies to federal contractors), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 

1972, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993.4As 

women’s real earnings increased and men’s stagnated, the gender wage gap narrowed. The slow 

narrowing of the wage gap in recent years reflects this trend (Figure 3.1).

Different Measures of the Gender Earnings Ratio 

The gender earnings ratio presented in this publication is based on the median annual earnings of fulltime, year-round workers and is the most commonly used measure for calculating the gender wage gap. 

This ratio is available on an annual basis since 1960 and on a less consistent basis from 1948 to 19595. It 

thus provides the best measure of long-term trends.

6

There are several ways to measure earnings, the 

gender earnings ratio, and the wage gap, which are described in more detail below. The main differences 

across measures involve types of workers included, types of compensation included, and timeframe 

covered. However, a persistent wage gap is common across the different measures. 

Table 3.1 provides an overview of four measures of median earnings: hourly earnings of wage and salary

workers paid hourly rates; weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers; annual earnings of fulltime, year-round workers; and annual earnings of all workers with earnings. The measure resulting in the 

lowest gender earnings ratio (the largest gender wage gap) is that which includes all women and men 

with earnings during the calendar year, irrespective of how many hours, weeks, or months they worked 

during the year. In 2015, this ratio was 72.7 percent — a wage gap of 27.3 percent. The measure resulting 

in the largest gender earnings ratio (lowest gender wage gap) is based on hourly earnings (85.6 percent in 

2015). It includes the fewest workers and has the most restrictive definition of earnings. As hourly-paid 

wage and salary workers were just over five in ten workers in 2015 (58.5 percent), this measure includes 

half of all workers. Further, overtime payments, commissions, and tips are excluded from the earnings 

calculation. The gender earnings ratio based on median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary 

workers (81.1 percent in 2015) includes overtime, commissions, and tips but excludes self-employed 

workers. The weekly gender earnings ratio is slightly larger than the measure based on earnings of fulltime year-round workers, which includes all earnings received during the year, salaries, wages, and 

earnings from annual bonuses and merit payments, as well as earnings from self-employment (Table 3.1).
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |5

Figure 3.2 shows changes in the gender earnings ratio for each of the four measures described in Table 

3.1 from 1980 to 2015. Although this ratio has improved for each of these measures over the years, the 

wage gap persists, and for many of the measures, has stagnated in recent years.

Median hourly earnings 

of wage & salary 

workers paid hourly 

ratesa

Median weekly 

earnings of full-time, 

year-round wage & 

salary workers b

Median annual 

earnings of fulltime, yearround workers c 

Median annual 

earnings of all 

workers c

Collected through BLS CPS monthly BLS CPS monthly Census Bureau 

CPS ASEC

Census Bureau 

CPS ASEC

Available since 1979 1979 1960* 1960*

Type of workers covered

Age 16 plus 16 plus 15 plus** 15 plus**

Civilian labor force only Yes Yes only until 1989 only until 1989

Type of worker Hourly paid Full-time, wage and 

salaried

Full-time, wage 

and salaried

All with any 

earnings

Full-time only No Yes Yes No

Proportion of total employed, 2015 52.6% 73.3% 68.0% 100.0%

Women's share of workers included in measure, 2015 50.5% 44.3% 42.5% 47.1%

Type of compensation included

Timeframe of earnings measure Hourly Weekly Annual Annual

Earnings from self-employment No No Yes Yes

Overtime, commissions, tips No Depends + Yes Yes

Annual bonus and merit awards No Depends + Yes Yes

Median Earnings

Women’s median earnings $12.56 $726 $40,742 $30,246 

Men’s median earnings $14.67 $895 $51,212 $41,615 

Gender earnings ratio 85.6% 81.1% 79.6% 72.7%

Notes: Full-time defined as 35 or more hours worked per week; year-round, as 50 or more weeks worked per year. * The CPS ASEC was first collected in 

1948; consistent annual data series available from 1960. ** Until 1980, CPS ASEC included workers 14 years and older. + The CPS asks workers for their 

‘usual weekly earnings,’ and respondents choose the reference period and the unit (hourly, weekly, biweekly, monthly, etc.) in which to report earnings; 

Earnings reported on a basis other than weekly are converted to weekly equivalent. Usual weekly hours may underestimate overtime earnings, as well as 

annual commissions/on-off payments. 

Sources: (a) U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. Unpublished Tables. "Table A-7. Hourly earnings of employed wage and salary 

workers paid hourly rates by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity and Non-Hispanic ethnicity, Annual Average 2015." Accessed November 2, 

2016. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Curent Population Survey. Annual Tables, Feburary 10, 2016. "Table 5. Employment status of the civilian 

noninstiutional population by sex, age, and race, annual averages." Accessed November 3, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat05.htm (b) U.S. Bureau 

of Labor Statistics, Economic News Release, January 22, 2016. “Table 7. Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected 

characteristics, annual averages.” Accessed November 2, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/wkyeng.t07.htm. Accessed November 2, 2016. U.S. 

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Curent Population Survey. Annual Tables, Feburary 10, 2016. "Table 5. Employment status of the civilian noninstiutional 

population by sex, age, and race, annual averages." Accessed November 3, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat05.htm (c) U.S. Census Bureau, Current 

Population Reports P60-256. "Table A-4: Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-toMale Earnings Ratio: 1960 to2015." Accessed October 3, 2016. https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-

256.pdf.

Table 3.1 

Four measures of the gender earnings ratio
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |6

 

Major Reasons for the Gender Wage Gap 

Studies have identified a number of factors that account for a share of the difference in earnings between 

women and men, including women’s greater 

likelihood to reduce or leave paid work to care 

for children or adult family members7and the 

combination of occupational segregation and 

lower median pay in occupations in which 

women make up a significant share of all 

workers employed.8

The most recent comprehensive study of earnings, which followed a cohort of women and men across a 

30-year period from 1980 to 2010, and thus could control for factors such as differences in occupation 

and industry and time out of the labor market, found that differences in occupations and industry of 

employment explained close to half of the difference in women’s and men’s earnings (32.9 percent and 

17.6 percent, respectively).9In other words, nearly one-third of the gap in earnings is due to the fact that 

Occupation: a craft, trade, profession, or other means of earning 

a living. Also, a set of activities or tasks that employees are paid to 

perform and that, together, go by a certain name. Employees who 

are in the same occupation perform essentially the same tasks, 

whether or not they work in the same industry.

Industry: a group of establishments that produce similar products 

or provide similar services. An industry may employ workers of 

many different occupations.
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |7

women tend to work in different occupations from men, and that the occupations in which women are 

the large majority of workers have lower earnings than those in which most workers are men. For 

example, women are only a quarter of workers in computer and mathematical occupations, which tend 

to have earnings well above average. Nearly one-fifth of the gap (17.6 percent) is due to differences in 

the sectors in which women and men work; a supervisor or human resources manager working in 

manufacturing, for example, may have higher earnings than a supervisor working in a restaurant.

Differences in the time that women and men spent out of paid work were found to explain 14.1 percent 

of their overall difference in earnings. Yet, even after the impact of all other factors commonly associated 

with differences in earnings (including education, race, and unionization) were analyzed, an ‘unexplained’ 

share of the wage gap (38.0 percent) remained. Economists take at least part of this unexplained gap 

between women’s and men’s earnings as the best proxy for discrimination.10

A 2013 study of made in the first year out of college of women and men with bachelor’s degrees found 

that, even at this early stage, a wage gap of 18 percent already existed.

11 The gender earnings ratio for 

women and men one year after college, before controlling for field of study, type of degree-granting 

institution, and number of hours worked, was 82 percent.

12 This figure reflected the effects of college 

major selection and occupational segregation, which together tend to concentrate women in lowerpaying fields, and demographic or personal characteristics, such as race, ethnicity, age, and marital status, 

among other variables. Yet, even after controlling for these and other factors, including hours worked, a 

7.0 percent wage gap remained.

13 More than one-third of the overall wage gap of 18 percent was 

therefore unexplained, meaning that it could not be attributed to observable distinctions in worker 

characteristics. Other studies reach similar conclusions: differences in occupations, hours of work, and 

time in the labor market account for a significant portion of gender differences in earnings, but a 

substantial part of the gap remains unexplained after controlling for observable characteristics of 

workers.14

Research suggests that differences in negotiating behaviors between women and men may partly explain 

differences in starting salaries and salary growth over time. When individual wage negotiations are not 

explicitly encouraged, women are less likely than men to negotiate aggressively or to question salaries 

suggested to them by their employer or manager.15 Yet, when women negotiate as aggressively as men, 

they may be viewed more negatively than men.16 Negotiating a lower starting salary can have a long term 

impact on earnings. For example, a 5 percent salary increase based on a salary of $50,000 is $2,500; 

based on a salary of $40,000, the increase is $2,000. Before the increase, the gap in earnings was 

$10,000; after the increase it had grown to $10,500; after the next 5 percent increase, the gap in earnings 

will have grown to $11,025. This research hints at the importance of an emerging trend in legislation

mandating equal pay for jobs of comparable worth. Recently, Massachusetts passed the Pay Equity Act, 

which changes the rules of hiring by providing a definition of comparable work entitled to equal pay and

prohibits employers from firing employees for discussing their compensation with coworkers. It is also the 

first state to prohibit employers from asking for a salary history in interviews—a practice that perpetuates 

the wage gap.

17The consequences of a lower salary may also be felt during job changes because many 

employers use a worker’s last salary as a reference point for their offer to a newly hired employee. Basing 

salary increases on past salary can lead to substantial differences in pay between women and men doing 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |8

the same job; in the absence of objective job-related factors justifying such differences, such practices 

may result in charges of pay discrimination.18

A study examining changes in the gender earnings ratio between 1970 and 2010 separately in the private 

and public sectors highlights the differences in the pace of the gender integration of occupations in each 

sector as an explanation of differences in the gender earnings ratio. Overall, the study finds occupational 

segregation is lower in the public than in the private sector. Further, the proportion of the wage gap that 

is unexplained by occupation, human capital, hours of work, and time in the labor market accounts for a 

much smaller part of the overall gender wage gap in the public than in the private sector.19

Other research identifies the growing prevalence of ‘overwork’ (jobs with average working hours of 50 or 

more per week) as an important contributing factor to the lack of progress towards gender equity in 

earnings in this millennium and to the persistence of occupational segregation.20 Jobs with long hours are 

particularly common in professional and managerial occupations. While both women and men earn wage 

premiums for working long hours, women are less likely than men to work jobs with long hours. 

Moreover, when women do work over 50 hours, the premium they earn is proportionally lower than 

men’s. The studies conclude that the growth of a long-hours culture in professional and managerial jobs 

presents a major barrier to closing the gender wage gap because, given the unequal gender division of 

unpaid family and child care work, women are less likely than men to work in such jobs.21

Earnings by Selected Demographic and Employment 

Characteristics 

Earnings by Age 

Both women’s and men’s earnings vary over their life cycle. Earnings are lowest when young women and 

men enter the labor market and then tend to rise as workers gain experience and skills, and possibly 

acquire additional qualifications and education. Figure 3.3 shows median weekly earnings for workers in 

different age groups. For both women and men, earnings are lowest for young workers, peak for middleaged workers, and then decrease for workers ages 65 and older. 

The gender earnings ratio is closest to parity for workers in the youngest age groups (16-24 years, 88.2

percent; 25-34 years, 89.6 percent); the earnings ratio is lower for each subsequent age group, reaching a 

low of 73.7 percent for workers ages 55 to 64. The ratio is slightly higher for women and men ages 65 and 

older (73.8 percent; Figure 3.3). 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |9

Data in Figure 3.3 compare workers in different age groups at the same point in time and therefore do 

not allow any conclusions about the development of the gender earnings ratio as the current cohort of 

young workers grows older. A cohort analysis of women’s and men’s earnings (analyzing changes in the 

earnings of workers born during the same years over time) found that the gender earnings ratio starts 

fairly high when workers are in their twenties, declines during child-rearing years, and rises again when 

workers reach middle age. The gender wage gap has grown smaller with each new generation. 

Additionally, although the Millennial generation (born between 1980 and 1994) entered the workforce 

with the same gender earnings ratio as the earlier Generation X at age 20, Millennials are the first 

generation not to have seen the wage gap expand by age 30. It is too early to tell whether this represents

a historical anomaly, possibly reflecting depressed earnings in response to the financial crisis or the 

increasing tendency of Millennial women to postpone motherhood, or whether it will continue into the 

future.Earnings from Part-time Work

On average, women working part-time (defined as fewer than 35 hours per week) earn more than men 

working part-time. In 2015, the median weekly earnings of women who worked part-time (irrespective of 

how many hours they worked in a given week) were $251, compared with $238 for men, a gender

$450 

$690 

$804 

$799 

$784 

$740 

$510 

$770 

$983 

$1,040 

$1,064 

$1,003 

88.2% 89.6%

81.8%

76.8%

73.7% 73.8%

16 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 65 years and

over

Median weekly 

earnings for full-time 

workers

Age

Figure 3.3 

The gender earnings ratio and median weekly earnings of full-time 

workers by gender and age, 2015 annual averages

Women

Men

Gender 

earnings 

ratio

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |10

earnings ratio of 105.5 percent.

22 The only part-time women workers who earned less than men were

those who worked fewer than five hours per week. Among those working 30 to 34 hours per week, the 

gender earnings ratio was 109.8 percent, meaning that women earned $1.10 for every dollar earned by 

male part-time workers in this category (Figure 3.4).

Women working part-time earned more in part because they were older than men working part-time,

and mid-career workers typically have higher earnings than younger workers. In 2015, 37.7 percent of

male part-time workers were under age 25 and 34.0 percent were ages 25 to 54. In comparison, 26.6

percent of female part-time workers were under age 25, while 48.6 percent were ages 25 to 54.23

While women are more likely than men to work part-time in every age group, both women and men are 

most likely to work part-time at the beginning and at the end of their working lives. However, the 

likelihood of part-time work falls much more sharply for men during their prime working years (age 25 to 

54) than it does for women. Over half (50.7 percent) of employed young women ages 16 to 24 work parttime compared with 38.7 percent of employed young men; during prime working years, the share of parttime work falls to 19.0 percent of employed women compared with just 6.4 percent of employed men.

24

As a result, women’s share of part-time workers is highest during the prime working years (Figure 3.5). 

 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |11

 

 

 

Earnings Differences by Race and Ethnicity 

Median weekly earnings differ significantly among women of different races and Hispanic ethnicity.

1

White, non-Hispanic and Asian women earn more than Black and Hispanic women. Women of all 

races and ethnic groups had lower median weekly earnings than their male counterparts. Compared 

with men of the same racial and ethnic group, the gender earnings ratio was higher for Hispanic 

(89.7 percent) and Black women (90.4 percent) than for Asian (77.8 percent) and White, nonHispanic women (78.1 percent). This is a reflection of the lower median weekly earnings of Black and 

Hispanic men, compared with those of Asian and White, non-Hispanic men (Figure 3.6). Black and 

Hispanic women face significant racial wage gaps in addition to the gender wage gap. In 2015,

Hispanic women earned only 56.3 percent of the median weekly earnings of White, non-Hispanic

men (the largest group of workers in the labor market), Black women earned 61.2 percent, and Asian 

women earned 87.3 percent.

 

1

People who identify as Hispanic may be of any race. This section presents analysis on race for White, non-Hispanic, 

Black, and Asian populations when available. Data on Blacks and Asians includes a small proportion of Hispanics. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |12

Figure 3.7 shows changes in the median annual earnings of full-time, year-round women workers by 

race and Hispanic ethnicity. Over time, earnings differences among women of different races and 

ethnic groups have grown. For example, in 1988, Black women’s median annual earnings were 91.3

percent of White, non-Hispanic women’s; and by 2015, the ratio had fallen to 84.1 percent.

25

Women in all groups have higher real earnings compared to the late eighties, yet the growth in real 

earnings between 19882and 2015 has been much stronger for Asian (30.1 percent) and White, nonHispanic women (23.4 percent) than for Hispanic (8.8 percent) or Black (13.7 percent) women. In

fact, during the last decade (2006 to 2015), including the Great Recession and recovery, the real 

earnings of Black women increased by only 1.5 percent, while real earnings increased for Asian (4.9

percent), Hispanic (5.0 percent), and White, non-Hispanic women (2.5 percent).26 It should be noted 

that this focus on the earnings of full-time, year-round workers underestimates the earnings 

disparity of Black and Hispanic women because they are more likely to face unemployment, or hold

occupations with less regular employment and fewer hours of work. 27

 

2

This is the year when published earnings data are first available for Asians, and is therefore used here as the 

baseline year for the comparison among groups. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |13

Several factors contribute to the growing gap in earnings between Black and White women. These include

the increasing returns to experience and educational attainment in the labor market.28 Compared to 

White female workers, Black female workers are less likely to have completed college and are more likely 

to be affected by declines in government jobs.

29 Further, occupational segregation appears to have a 

stronger negative impact on Black women’s earnings than on White women’s earnings. Black women are 

more likely to be overrepresented in lower-paying jobs, including service occupations and clerical work,

and less likely to work in managerial, professional, or technician occupations than their White 

counterparts. As a result, they are concentrated in low wage or minimum wage jobs, with 19.1 percent of 

full-time Black women workers earning less than $400 per week, compared to 10.0 percent of White, 

non-Hispanic women.30 While factors such as educational attainment, marital and parental status, 

occupational distribution, and age can explain a large share of the wage gap between Black and White 

women, a substantial and growing part of the gap remains unexplained, reflecting the different returns 

Black women receive for the same observable worker characteristics.31 This phenomenon suggests that

discrimination is another substantial cause of Black women’s lower earnings.

32
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |14

The ratio of Hispanic-to-White, non-Hispanic women’s median annual earnings fell from 84.2 percent in 

19873to 69.2 percent in 2000, and then increased slightly, to reach 72.2 percent in 2015.

33 Asian women 

had the highest earnings throughout the period, while Hispanic women had the lowest earnings (Figure 

3.7).34 Factors that might explain these trends include differences in educational attainment and the 

growth of the Asian and Hispanic immigrant populations.35 A high proportion of Asian immigrants are 

college graduates,

36 while a comparatively high number of Hispanic immigrants have no post-secondary 

educational attainment,37 influencing median earnings of women in both groups.

Earnings of Foreign-born Workers 

Median weekly earnings of foreign-born workers are substantially lower than those of native-born 

workers. In 2015, the median weekly earnings of foreign-born women were only 84.6 percent of those of 

native-born women, over $100 less per week. Foreign-born men had higher earnings than foreign-born 

women, $712 compared with $626 per week, yielding a gender earnings ratio of 87.9 percent, compared 

to 79.2 percent for native born workers 38 (Figure 3.8).

 

 

 

3

This is the year when published earnings data are first available for White non-Hispanics, and is therefore used 

here as the baseline year for the comparison among groups. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |15

Earnings by Occupation 

The median weekly earnings of full-time 

working women are lower than men’s earnings

in almost all occupations which employ a 

sufficient number of women and men to 

provide reliable estimates of earnings. The 

median weekly earnings of full-time working 

women are lower than men’s earnings in 29 of 

the 30 most common occupations for women 

and 29 of the 30 most common occupations for 

men. In 2015, the gender earnings ratio in the 

most common occupations for women ranged

from 65.2 percent for ‘financial managers,’ to 

102.1 percent for ‘office clerks, general’. And 

while the ‘office clerks, general’ occupation had higher median weekly earnings for women than men 

($622 to $609), the earnings for both sexes were below the median for all full-time workers ($809).

39

 

Tables 3.2a and b show the ten occupations with the highest and lowest gender earnings ratios. It is 

notable that the disparity in earnings tends to be greater in higher paid occupations: most of the ten 

occupations with the highest gender earnings ratios (the lowest gender wage gaps) have weekly earnings 

below the median for all occupations. Conversely, all of the ten occupations with the lowest gender 

earnings ratios (the largest gender wage gaps) have weekly earnings above the median for all 

occupations. Five of the ten occupations with the largest gender wage gaps between women and men 

have median weekly earnings greater than $1,100 per week (compared to the median for all workers of 

$809); six of the ten occupations with the smallest gender wage gaps have earnings below $700 per week 

(Tables 3.2a and b). Thus, a narrower wage gap does not imply higher earnings and greater economic 

security for women; it may simply be an indication of low pay for both women and men. Consequently, 

women’s advancement into higher paying occupations will not eliminate the gender wage gap unless the 

underlying causes of pay differences in such occupations, including both pay discrimination and the longhours culture, are also addressed.

40

Key Terms 

Most common occupations: Those with the largest 

number of female or male workers. 

Traditional occupations: Those in which women 

represent 75 percent or more of people employed 

(also referred to as “female-dominated 

occupations”).

Nontraditional occupations: Those in which 

women represent 25 percent or less of people 

employed (also referred to as “male-dominated 

occupations”). 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |16

 

Table 3.3 shows the ten occupations with the highest and lowest median weekly earnings for women in 

2015. Just over 1.8 million women, or 2.6 percent of all employed women, are employed full-time in the 

ten highest-paying occupations for women (paying a median between $1,325 and $1,836 per week).41The 

two highest-earning occupations for women are chief executives and pharmacists. Women are more than 

half of all pharmacists who work full-time, but less than 30 percent of full-time chief executives. Three of

the ten occupations with the highest median weekly earnings for women (‘computer and information 

systems managers,’ ‘engineers, all other,’ and ‘software developers’) are in science, technology, 

Occupation

Women’s earnings 

as a percent of 

men’s

Women’s share of 

total employment 

in occupation 

(percent)

Median weekly 

earnings of all fulltime workers

All full-time weekly workers 81.1% 46.8% $809 

Wholesale and retail buyers, except farm products 111.2% 52.7% $926

Data entry keyers 108.3% 74.3% $619

Office clerks, general 102.1% 82.3% $620

Police and sheriff's patrol officers 100.8% 13.6% $1,002

Bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks 100.3% 89.8% $692

Counselors 99.3% 71.4% $904

Health practitioner support technologists and technicians 97.1% 81.5% $636

Purchasing agents, except wholesale, retail, and farm products 96.7% 49.7% $1,009

Bill and account collectors 96.1% 68.3% $657

Electrical, electronics, and electromechanical assemblers 96.1% 51.4% $554

Occupation

Women’s earnings 

as a percent of 

men’s

Women’s share of 

total employment 

in occupation 

(percent)

Median weekly 

earnings for fulltime work for all 

workers

All full-time weekly workers 81.1% 46.8% $809 

Securities, commodities, and financial services sales agents 52.5% 26.2% $1,155

Personal financial advisors 59.4% 37.9% $1,419

Sales representatives, services, all other 60.9% 34.8% $966

Advertising sales agents 63.1% 49.7% $925

Financial managers 65.2% 49.6% $1,408

Physical scientists, all other 66.1% 41.4% $1,553

Business operations specialists, all other 66.3% 56.7% $1,090

Sales and related workers, all other 66.8% 46.8% $916

First-line supervisors of production and operating workers 67.4% 18.6% $875

Administrative services managers 67.6% 47.7% $1,191

 Table 3.2a

The ten occupations with the highest gender earnings ratio (smallest wage gap) for full-time workers, 2015

Table 3.2b

The ten occupations with the lowest gender earnings ratio (largest wage gap) for full-time workers, 2015

Notes: Workers age 16 and older in the civilian labor force; based on median weekly earnings of wage and salary, full-time workers (35 

hours or more).

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |17

engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Two of the ten highest-paid occupations for women are 

considered nontraditional (that is, women are less than 25.0 percent of all workers in these 

occupations),

42 and the share of women in another two occupations are close to the 25.0 percent 

threshold (Table 3.6). On the other end of the spectrum, over 3.8 million women, or 5.5 percent of all 

employed women, are employed full-time in the ten lowest-paying occupations for women (paying a 

median of $429 or less per week). The earnings provided in these occupations are insufficient to lift a 

family of four out of poverty, even after an entire year of full-time work.43

Occupation

Women's 

median weekly 

earnings

Number of fulltime women 

workers 

(in thousands)

Women’s fulltime earnings as 

percent of men’s

Women’s share 

of all workers in 

occupation 

(percent)a 

All full-time weekly women workers $726 48,334 81.1% 46.8%

Chief executives $1,836 283 81.6% 27.9%

Pharmacists $1,811 108 85.5% 57.0%

Lawyers $1,717 300 89.7% 34.5%

Computer and information systems managers $1,563 169 86.0% 27.2%

Physicians and surgeons $1,533 283 80.1% 37.9%

Nurse practitioners $1,522 103 - 90.8%

Engineers, all other $1,448 5 4 94.2% 13.6%

Software developers, applications and systems software $1,415 232 80.8% 17.9%

Management analysts $1,348 237 88.7% 39.7%

Operations research analysts $1,325 6 3 84.2% 50.7%

Combined food preparation and serving workers, including fast food $380 107 94.8% 63.4%

Food preparation workers $388 192 93.7% 59.1%

Hosts and hostesses, restaurant, lounge, and coffee shop $397 5 8 - 82.1%

Miscellaneous agricultural workers $398 102 86.5% 21.9%

Cooks $400 494 93.7% 39.9%

Cashiers $405 931 86.0% 72.5%

Maids and housekeeping cleaners $407 742 85.7% 89.3%

Waiters and waitresses $411 563 82.0% 70.1%

Packers and packagers, hand $424 227 91.8% 51.9%

Janitors and building cleaners $429 425 78.4% 34.3%

Table 3.3

The highest and lowest paid occupations for full-time women workers, 2015 annual averages

The highest paid occupations for women

The lowest paid occupations for women

Notes: Workers age 16 and older in the civilian labor force; based on median weekly earnings of full-time workers (35 hours or more). Dash indicates no data 

or estimate does not meet publication standards. (a) Women as a percentage of total employed are 2015 annual averages for all people employed (includes 

part-time and self-employed), from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |18

Earnings by Educational Attainment 

Women have made major strides in increasing their levels of formal education, partly due to a decrease in 

structural barriers, and are now more likely than men to gain educational qualifications at every level of 

educational attainment.44 Educational attainment has a major impact on earnings. The median weekly 

earnings of women with at least a bachelor’s degree in 2015 were more than 2.5 times higher than the

median weekly earnings of women who had not completed high school. Yet gender earnings differences 

persist, and are even more pronounced among the most highly educated workers. Figure 3.9 shows that

educational attainment has a consistently higher impact on men’s than on women’s earnings and that 

men have higher earnings than women at each level of educational attainment. Indeed, men with a high 

school diploma earn more per week than women with some college education or an associate’s degree. 

 

$1,420 

$883 

$759 

$520 

$947 

$1,064 

$664 

$586 

$418 

$761 

Bachelor's degree and higher

Some college or associate degree

High school graduates, no college

Less than a high school diploma

Total, all education levels

Median weekly earnings

Figure 3.9

Earnings of full-time wage and salary workers age 25 and older by educational 

attainment and gender, 2015 annual averages

Women

Men

Notes: Workers in the civilian labor force, ages 25 and older. Full-time defined as 35 hours or more per week. 

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, January 22, 2016. “Table 9: Quartiles 

and selected deciles of usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, 2015 annual 

averages." Accessed July 7, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/wkyeng_01222016.pdf 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |19

Figure 3.10 shows the median weekly earnings for women by race and ethnicity, and educational 

attainment. While higher educational attainment is associated with an increase in earnings for women 

workers, it does not alter the earnings differences among women of different races and ethnic groups

discussed in Figure 3.7. Black and Hispanic women have lower median weekly earnings at each 

educational level compared to heir Asian and White, non-Hispanic counterparts. In fact, earnings 

differences are particularly marked among women with advanced degrees (master’s, professional degree, 

or doctoral degree), with Black women having the lowest, and Asian women the highest median weekly

earnings. This may be due largely to the fact that Asian women are more likely than other women to work 

in STEM and managerial occupations.

45

Between 1979 and 2015, earnings gains have varied widely for workers with different levels of education.

In 2015, after controlling for inflation, the median weekly earnings of a woman who did not complete 

high school were 9.7 percent lower than the earnings of a woman with comparable education in 1979; on 

the other hand, the earnings of a woman with at least a bachelor’s degree were 32.5 percent higher in 

2015 than in 1979.46 Median weekly earnings grew only slightly for women who had completed high 

school or had some college or an associate’s degree. At each level of educational attainment, men’s 

earnings declined more or grew less than women’s. Except for men with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 

the median weekly earnings of men at all educational levels declined, most noticeably for men with less 

than a high school diploma (-32.2 percent). The median weekly earnings of women with a bachelor’s 

degree or higher grew more than the median weekly earnings of comparable men (32.5 percent versus

17.8 percent) (Figure 3.11; note that the comparisons in earnings between the two years – 1979 and 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |20

2015 – do not imply sustained growth or decline over this period). In spite of the overall decline in real 

earnings for men, Figure 3.9 above shows that men still earn substantially more than women at each level 

of educational attainment.

Between 1979 and 2015, earnings gains have varied widely for workers with different levels of education.

In 2015, after controlling for inflation, the median weekly earnings of a woman who did not complete 

high school were 9.7 percent lower than the earnings of a woman with comparable education in 1979; on 

the other hand, the earnings of a woman with at least a bachelor’s degree were 32.5 percent higher in 

2015 than in 1979.47 Median weekly earnings grew only slightly for women who had completed high 

school or had some college or an associate’s degree. At each level of educational attainment, men’s 

earnings declined more or grew less than women’s. Except for men with a bachelor’s degree or higher, 

the median weekly earnings of men at all educational levels declined, most noticeably for men with less 

than a high school diploma (-32.2 percent). The median weekly earnings of women with a bachelor’s 

degree or higher grew more than the median weekly earnings of comparable men (32.5 percent versus

17.8 percent) (Figure 3.11; note that the comparisons in earnings between the two years – 1979 and 

2015 – do not imply sustained growth or decline over this period). In spite of the overall decline in real 

earnings for men, Figure 3.9 above shows that men still earn substantially more than women at each level 

of educational attainment.

 

 

Earnings by Union Representation 

Changes in real wages since the 1980s partly reflect changes in unionization rates. Union membership

rates declined for both women and men, but particularly sharply for men.48 Workers covered by a union 

contract have higher earnings49 and tend to have better benefits50 than other workers. Earnings data are 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |21

collected for workers who are union members, workers represented by unions (those who were paying 

unions dues as well as those who were not), and non-union workers. The earnings advantage over nonunion workers is almost identical for women workers who are union members and women workers 

represented by unions. In 2015, the median weekly earnings of women union members were $928, 

compared with $921 for women workers represented by a union, and $697 for women who were neither

members of a union nor were represented by a union.51 Women of all major racial and ethnic groups 

have substantially higher earnings when they are either union members or represented by a union than 

when they are non-union (Figure 3.12).

The higher earnings of workers covered by a union compared with non-union workers are partly due to 

differences in the composition of the union and non-union workforces. For example, union coverage is 

more common among higher-paid workers with college degrees, such as teachers and nurses, and less 

common among lower-paid workers employed as cashiers, maids, or waitresses, for example.

52 Union 

coverage is also higher among older than younger women (15.2 percent of women ages 55 to 64 

compared with 10.7 percent of women ages 25-34 are covered by unions),53 and as shown in Figure 3.5

above, median earnings are higher for older than younger workers. Yet, union women workers earn more 

than non-union women workers even after accounting for other factors that may contribute to higher 

earnings (such as educational attainment, age, race, state of residence, and industry of employment).

54 A 

study found a significant earnings advantage for women in unions at each major level of educational 

attainment, ranging from 9.4 percent for women who had not completed high school and 9.6 percent for 

women with advanced degrees to 13.0 percent for women with a college degree, 14.5 percent for 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |22

women with some college, and 14.7 percent for women who completed high school.55

Women workers covered by union contracts are also more likely to have access to workplace benefits. 

Seventy-four percent of women covered by union contracts have access to an employer-provided 

retirement plan, compared with 42.3 percent of non-union women; and 76.6 percent of union women 

have employer-provided health insurance, compared to 51.4 percent of non-union women.56 The 

difference in retirement plans and health insurance coverage between union and non-union women is 

particularly stark for Hispanic women. Hispanic women covered by union contracts are more than twice 

as likely as non-union Hispanic women to have access to an employer-provided pension plan (55.9

percent compared with 25.9 percent) and almost 30.0 percentage points more likely to have employerprovided health insurance (70.2 percent compared with 41.0 percent).57

Low and Minimum Wage Jobs 

Women are the majority of low-wage workers. In 2015, nearly 11.5 million full-time workers earned less 

than $400 a week.

58 Women were 44.3 percent of all full-time weekly workers, but 56.0 percent of fulltime workers with earnings of less than $400 a week.59 Over one in ten (13.3 percent) of all full-time 

women workers have these low weekly earnings, compared with less than one in ten (8.3 percent) men.60

A large number of women of all racial and ethnic groups work in low-wage jobs, but Hispanic and Black 

women are more likely to hold low-wage occupations than White, non-Hispanic women and Asian 

women. More than one in five Hispanic women (22.3 percent) and nearly one in five Black women (19.1

percent) who work full-time earn less than $400 per week (Figure 3.13). 

The real value of the federal minimum wage in 2015 dollars has decreased from its peak in 1968 ($10.90) 

to $7.25 per hour in 2015. Since 1980, the real value of the federal minimum wage has fallen by $1.67

(Figure 3.14a).

61 Women have been the majority of workers with hourly earnings at or below the federal 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |23

minimum wage since 1979, when reliable data on hourly paid workers first became available. In 2015, 1.6

million women had earnings at or below the federal minimum wage, representing 4.1 percent of all 

hourly paid women, and 62.6 percent of all workers who were paid hourly rates at or below the federal

minimum wage (Figure 3.14b).

62 A minimum wage worker working 40 hours per week for 50 weeks per 

year would earn only $14,500 per year, about $4,600 below the poverty threshold4for a family of one 

adult and two children.63

Furthermore, tipped minimum wage workers face additional economic insecurity because the majority of 

incomes for these workers come from tips which are often unreliable and irregular.5Two thirds of 

workers earning the tipped minimum wage are women, adding economic insecurity to low wages for this 

group of low wage working women. 

 

4

Poverty threshold: The U.S. Census Bureau uses a set of income thresholds that vary by family size and 

composition to determine who is living in poverty. If a family’s total income before taxes is less than the poverty 

threshold, then that family is considered to be in poverty (the measure excludes noncash benefits and capital gains). 

For example, in 2015 the poverty threshold for a parent living with two children under the age of 18 was $19,096

and for a parent with three children, it was $24,120. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 2015 

Annual Social and Economic Supplement.

5

The tipped minimum—$2.13 per hour—has not changed since 1991. The current non-tipped minimum wage is 

$7.25 per hour
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |24

Conclusion 

Since 1980, women have made considerable strides towards improving the gender earnings ratio and 

closing the gender wage gap. Yet, in the last two decades, progress towards eliminating the disparity 

between women’s and men’s earnings has stalled. By every measure, the wage gap endures, despite 

women’s increased educational attainment, heightened labor force participation rates, and expanded 

access to jobs. Although they earn more qualifications and credentials, women earn less than men at 

every level of educational attainment. Even as more and more women, particularly mothers, enter the 

workforce, they are more likely to work part-time than their male counterparts. Although legal barriers to 

women’s participation in the occupation of their choice do not exist, occupational segregation continues. 

Those jobs with the smallest gender wage gaps tend to be female-dominated and low paying. While 

earnings increase with age for both men and women, the gender wage gap is lowest for young workers 

ages 25-34 and highest for workers in their peak earning years.

The wage gap affects women of all ages, racial and ethnic groups, educational attainment, and

occupations. However, disparities in earnings are particularly stark for women of certain demographic 

and employment characteristics. The gap in earnings between Black and White women, as well as 
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |25

Hispanic and White women, has increased since 1987. Black and Hispanic women earn significantly less 

than White, non-Hispanic and Asian women and are more likely than their White, non-Hispanic and Asian 

counterparts to hold a low-wage occupation. 

The racial wage gap is further compounded by differential factors such as educational attainment and 

unionization. From 1979 to 2015, the earnings returns to a college degree increased dramatically while 

the median earnings of those who did not complete high school fell. Further, the decline in women’s

unionization rates over these years is notable, as union membership or coverage correlates to higher 

earnings and greater access to benefits such as employer-sponsored health insurance and pension plans 

for female workers. Women’s lower earnings, in combination with their greater likelihood to reduce or 

leave paid work to provide unpaid family care, translate into lower lifetime earnings, with implications for 

their ability to provide for a family or support themselves in retirement.

64 Policies that increase women’s 

earnings and make it easier to combine work and family responsibilities65 can improve women’s economic 

security.

 

1

U.S. Census Bureau. Annual Estimates of the Resident Population by Single Year of Age and Sex for the United States: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 

2015.” Accessed December 21, 2016. https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk

2

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics LABSTAT Database (Series ID LNU01000002, LNU01000000; accessed December 21, 2016.

http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/srgate.

3

U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports. “Income and Poverty in the United States: 2015.” “Table A-4: Number and real median 

earnings of total workers and full-time, year-round workers by sex and female-to-male earnings ratio: 1960-2015.” Accessed November 9, 2016. 

https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publications/2016/demo/p60-256.pdf.

4

The White House, National Equal Pay Taskforce, “Fifty Years after The Equal Pay Act: Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future.” Accessed 

July 18, 2016. https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/equalpay/equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.pdf.

5 The Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS ASEC) has been collected since 1948 by the U.S. Census 

Bureau. For more information on ASEC, please visit http://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/technical-documentation/complete.html

6

Cynthia Costello and Ariane Hegewisch, The Gender Wage Gap and Public Policy, issue brief no. 507, Institute for Women's Policy Research, 

February 2016, accessed July 15, 2016, http://iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-and-public-policy.

7

Brenda C. Spillman and Kirsten J. Black, Staying the Course: Trends in Family Caregiving, report no. 2005-17, AARP Public Policy Institute, 

November 2005, accessed July 18, 2016, http://assets.aarp.org/rgcenter/il/2005_17_caregiving.pdf.; On Pay Gap, Millennial Women Near ParityFor Now: Despite Gains, Many See Roadblocks Ahead, report, Social and Demographic Trends, Pew Research Center, December 11, 2013, , 

accessed July 18, 2016, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2013/12/11/on-pay-gap-millennial-women-near-parity-for-now/#the-balancing-act.

8

Hadas Mandel and Moshe Semyonov, “Gender Pay Gap and Employment Sector: Sources of Earnings Disparities in the United States, 1970-

2010,” Demography 51, no. 5 (October 2014): 1597-1618.

9

Francine D. Blau and Lawrence M. Kahn, “The Gender Pay Gap: Extent, Trends, and Explanations,” working paper no. 21913, National Bureau of 

Economic Research, January 2016, accessed July 18, 2016, http://www.nber.org/papers/w21913; the study analyzed differences in hourly 

earnings for full-time workers based on the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1980, 1989, 1998, and 2010 as well as the U.S. Census Bureau’s 

March Current Populations Survey for 1980, 1989, 1998, and 2010. The basic gender earnings ratio for workers in this study in 2010

(uncontrolled for human capital, labor market experience or demographic factors) was 82.3 percent.

10 This method of estimating discrimination was first advanced by Ronald Oaxaca, “Male-female Wage Differentials in Urban Labor Markets,” 

International Economic Review 14, no. 3 (1973): 693-709; it has been widely used since. 

11 Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill, Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation, report, 

American Association of University Women, 2012, accessed July 18, 2016, http://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-theearnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf, 10. 

12 Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill, Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation, report, 

American Association of University Women, 2012, accessed July 18, 2016, http://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-theearnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf, 10. 

13 Ibid. 

14 See for example Marianne Bertrand, Claudia Goldin, and Lawrence F. Katz, "Dynamics of the Gender Gap for Young Professionals in the 

Financial and Corporate Sectors," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 2, no. 3 (2010): 228-255; Claudia Goldin, “A Grand Gender 

Convergence: Its Last Chapter,” American Economic Review 104, no. 4 (2014): 1091-1119 on the role of hours of work and time out of the labor 

market for earnings differentials; see Ariane Hegewisch, Cynthia Deitch, and Evelyn Murphy, Ending Sex and Race Discrimination in the 

Workplace: Legal Interventions That Push the Envelope, report no. C379, Institute for Women's Policy Research, March 2011, accessed July 18, 

2016, http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/ending-sex-and-race-discrimination-in-theworkplace-legal-interventions-that-push-the-envelope-
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |26

 

1; see Anthony T. Lo Sasso, Michael R. Richards, Chiu-Fang Chou, and Susan E. Gerber, “The $16,819 Pay Gap For Newly Trained Physicians: The 

Unexplained Trend Of Men Earning More Than Women,” Health Affairs 30, no. 2 (2011): 193–201; or Dan A. Black, Amelia M. Haviland, Seth G. 

Sanders, and Lowell J. Taylor, “Gender Wage Disparities among the Highly Educated,” The Journal of Human Resources 43, no. 3 (2008): 630-659; 

or Phillip Broyles, "The Gender Pay Gap of STEM Professions in the United States," International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy 29, no. 5/6 

(2009): 214-226 for studies on the wage gap in specific fields.

15 See for example: Andreas Leibbrandt and John A. List, Do Women Avoid Salary Negotiations? Evidence from a Large Scale Natural Field 

Experiment, working paper no. 18511, National Bureau of Economic Research, November 2012, accessed July 18, 2016, 

http://www.nber.org/papers/w18511; or Deborah A. Small, Michele Gelfand, Linda Babcock, and Hilary Gettman, ”Who Goes to the Bargaining 

Table? The Influence of Gender and Framing on the Initiation of Negotiation,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 93, no. 4 (2007): 600 –

613.

16 Hannah Riley Bowles, Linda Babcock, and Lei Lai, “Social Incentives for Gender Differences in the Propensity to Initiate Negotiations: Sometimes 

it Does Hurt to Ask,” Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes 103, no. 1 (2007): 84–103.

17 Cooke, Jackie. "Massachusetts: Leading the Way on Equal Pay." US Department of Labor Blog. August 04, 2016. Accessed August 15, 2016. 

18 Ariane Hegewisch, “Pay Discrimination through the Lens of Consent Decrees: Beck v. Boeing,” in Hegewisch et al., Ending Sex and Race 

Discrimination in the Workplace.

19 Ibid. 

20 Youngjoo Cha and Kim A. Weeden, “Overwork and the Slow Convergence in the Gender Gap in Wages,” American Sociological Review 79, no. 3 

(2014): 457-484 and Youngjoo Cha, “Overwork and the Persistence of Gender Segregation in Occupations,” Gender and Society, 27 (2013): 158-

84.

21 Ibid.

22 Calculated by SGT based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, February 2016. “Table 38: Median weekly earnings of 

part-time wage and salaried workers by selected characteristics.” Accessed June 29, 2016.http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat38.pdf. .

23

.Ibid. “Table 8: Employed and unemployed full-and part-time workers by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.” Accessed July 18, 

2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat08.pdf. 

24 SGT calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, February 2016. , “Table 8: Employed and unemployed fulland part-time workers by age, sex, race, and Hispanic or Latino ethnicity.” Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat08.pdf. 

25 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1981-2016 Annual Social and Economic Supplements. “Historical Income Tables: People, Table 

P-38: Full-time, year-round workers by median earnings and sex.” Accessed November 9, 2016. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/timeseries/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html. 

26 Ibid.

27 Betty Pettit and Stephanie Ewert, "Employment Gains and Wage Declines: The Erosion of Black Women's Relative Wages since 1980," 

Demography 46, no. 3 (August 2009): 487.

28 See Pettit and Ewert, “Employment Gains and Wage Declines” for a review of research on the earnings gap between Black, non-Hispanic and 

White, non-Hispanic women.

29 Marlene Kim, “Race and Gender Differences in the Earnings of Black Workers,” Industrial Relations 48, no. 3 (July 2009): 466-488. 

30 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. Unpublished tabulations.

31 Marlene Kim, “Race and Gender Differences in the Earnings of Black Workers,” Industrial Relations 48, no. 3 (July 2009): 466-488.

32 Pettit and Ewert, “Employment Gains and Wage Declines,” 489.

33 U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1981-2016 Annual Social and Economic Supplements. “Historical Income Tables: People, Table 

P-38: Full-time, year-round workers by median earnings and sex.” Accessed November 9, 2016. https://www.census.gov/data/tables/timeseries/demo/income-poverty/historical-income-people.html. 

34 Although this trend generally holds true throughout the time period, it should be noted that White, non-Hispanic women’s earnings were 

higher than Asian women’s earnings in 2001 ($41186 vs. $41031, respectively). 

35Anna Brown and Renee Stepler, "Statistical Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States," Pew Research Center, April 19, 2016, 

accessed July 18, 2016, http://www.pewhispanic.org/2016/04/19/statistical-portrait-of-the-foreign-born-population-in-the-united-states-keycharts/#2013-fb-arrivals.

36 Pew Research Center, "The Rise of Asian Americans," Pew Research Center Social and Demographic Trends, April 04, 2013, accessed July 18, 

2016, http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2012/06/19/the-rise-of-asian-americans/.

37 Steven A. Camarota, Immigrants in the United States, 2010: A Profile of America's Foreign-Born Population, report, Center for Immigration 

Studies, August 2012, accessed July 18, 2016, http://cis.org/2012-profile-of-americas-foreign-born-population#toc: Table 27.

38 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Economic News Release. Table 5. "Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Full-time Wage and Salary Workers for the 

Foreign-Born and Native-born by Selected Characteristics.” http://www.bls.gov/news.release/forbrn.t05.htm.

39 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages.“Table 39: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and 

salary workers by detailed occupation and sex.” Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat39.pdf.

40 See Mandel and Semyonov, “Gender Pay Gap and Employment Sector,”1597-1618; Cha and Weeden, “Overwork and the Slow Convergence in 

the Gender Gap in Wages; and Hegewisch et al. 

41 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Curent Population Survey. Annual Tables, Feburary 10, 2016. "Table 5. Employment status of the civilian 

noninstiutional populatin by sex, age, and race, annual averages." Accessed November 3, 2016.
 Women’s Earnings and the Gender Wage Gap |27

 

42 A nontraditional occupation for women is defined in the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act of 1998 and the Workforce 

Innovation and Opportunity Act of 2014 as one where women are fewer than 25.0 percent of workers.

43 The U.S. Census Bureau poverty threshold for 2014 for a family with one adult and three children in 2014 was $24,091; for a family of 1 adult 

with two children, it was $19,073; U.S. Census Bureau, “Poverty Thresholds,” May 16, 2016, accessed July 19, 2016, 

https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html. 

44 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers, January 22, 2016. “Table 9: Quartiles and selected deciles 

of usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by selected characteristics, 2015 annual averages." Accessed July 7, 2016. 

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/wkyeng_01222016.pdf 

45 Joan Burelli, "Women of Color in STEM Education and Employment," in National Science Foundation proceedings of Committee on Equal 

Opportunities in Science and Engineering Mini Symposium on Women of Color in STEM: Perspectives on Experiences, Research, Evaluation, and 

Policy in Higher Education and Careers, Arlington, VA, October 27, 2009, accessed July 18, 2016, 

https://www.nsf.gov/od/oia/activities/ceose/mini-symp-pres/Women_of_color_stem_Oct2009/Oct27/JoanBurrelliv2.pdf.

46 Note that this does not follow the same women or men across the 34 year period, but compares the median earnings of all workers at a level 

of educational attainment in 1979 with workers with that educational attainment in 2013. 

47 Note that this does not follow the same women or men across the 34 year period, but compares the median earnings of all workers at a level 

of educational attainment in 1979 with workers with that educational attainment in 2013. 

48 John Schmitt and Nicole Woo, Women Workers and Unions, issue brief, Center for Economic and Policy Research, December 2013, accessed 

July 18, 2016, http://cepr.net/documents/union-women-2013-12.pdf. Schmitt and Woo analyzed CPS ORG, combining five years of data (2008-

2012) to gain sufficient sample sizes for this level of analysis; data are compared for workers who are non-union members/not covered by a 

union contract and workers who are either union members or covered by a union contract.

49 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. “Table 41: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and 

salary workers by union affiliation and selected characteristics.” Accessed July 7, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat41.pdf.

50 Julie Anderson, Ariane Hegewisch, and Jeff Hayes, The Union Advantage for Women, report no. R409, Status of Women in the States, Institute 

for Women's Policy Research, October 15, 2015, accessed July 18, 2016, http://statusofwomendata.org/app/uploads/2015/08/R409-UnionAdvantage.pdf.

51 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. “Table 41: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and 

salary workers by union affiliation and selected characteristics.” Accessed July 7, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat41.pdf.

52 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Union Members 2015, January 28, 2016. “Table 3: Union affiliation of employed wage and salary workers by 

occupation and industry, 2014-2015 annual averages.” Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/union2.pdf. 

53 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. “Table 40: Union affiliation of employed wage and salaried 

workers by selected characteristics.” Accessed July 18, 2016. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat40.pdf

54 Schmitt and Woo, “Women Workers and Unions.”

55 Ibid.

56 Andersen, Hegewisch, and Hayes, The Union Advantage for Women, Figures 2 and 3.

57 Ibid. 

58 SGT calculation based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. Unpublished tabulations. 

59 Ibid.

60 Ibid.

61 U.S. Department of Labor, Minimum Wage Chart. Accessed December 21, 2016, https://www.dol.gov/minwage/chart1.htm; U.S. Bureau of 

Labor Statistics, Inflation Calculator. Accessed December 21, 2016, http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

62 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, 2015 Annual Averages. “Table 44: Wage and salary workers paid hourly rates with 

earnings at or below the prevailing Federal minimum age by selected characteristics.” Accessed July 18, 2016. 

http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat44.pdf. 

63 U.S. Census Bureau, “Poverty thresholds by Size of Family and Number of Children, 2015,” May 16, 2016, accessedJuly 14, 2016, .

http://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html. 

64 The Center of America Progress estimates that the median full-time, full year working 26 year old women in 2014 who takes five years out of 

the workforce for caregiving stands to lose $467,000 over her working career. https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/earlychildhood/reports/2016/06/21/139731/calculating-the-hidden-cost-of-interrupting-a-career-for-child-care/

65 Women’s Bureau is working on further analysis of the effect family responsibilities and caregiving has women workers and their earnings. In 

2015, the Department of Labor published “The Cost of Doing Nothing: The Price We All Pay Without

Paid Leave Policies to Support America’s 21st Century Working Families “ (https://www.dol.gov/featured/paidleave/cost-of-doing-nothingreport.pdf) which examined the effects of the United States lack of paid leave access has on workers and employers including lower earnings over 

a career for women caregivers