This report offers the first comprehensive view of gender-based wage differences in the Chicago metropolitan area. It includes overall measures, as well as ratios for major occupational categories. The impact of ethnicity, age, marital status, and educational status on the wage gap is also examined. The report's major findings are based on a thorough analysis of 1980 and 1990 U. S. census data. Hispanic women are the only group for whom the wage gap widened during the last decade, falling to less than 43 cents for every dollar earned by white males.
Educational attainment has no impact on the wage gap.
The gender gap in earnings widens with age. Regardless of marital status, the median earnings of mothers with dependent children are only 57 percent of the earnings of white males. Even in traditionally female occupations, men earn more than women. Women working in traditionally male occupations earn approximately 19 to 47 percent less than their male counterparts. In the ten highest paying occupations, women earn approximately 11 to 41 percent less than men.