In the youngest working groups, the pay gap has almost disappeared, especially for men and women of comparable education and experience. Women aged 16 to 29 typically earn 92 percent of men's earnings. Women aged 27 to 33 who have no children now earn on average 98 percent of the wages of childless men of the same age. Some pay gap. Women have made substantial progress in fields requiring higher education.
More women now receive college degrees than men.
Among entrepreneurs, women now start businesses at twice the rate of men. The number of women-owned businesses more than doubled between 1987 and 1997. When the neighboring states of Iowa and Minnesota attempted the task, Iowa ranked a secretary above a laundry worker, while Minnesota ranked the laundry worker higher. Other states show comparable anomalies. In the typical case, a school district pays two teachers with a given amount of seniority and education the same, regardless of the subject taught.