There are sharp distinctions by educational and marital status. The majority of women in Nevada are still likely to work in such traditional, female-dominated jobs as cashier, waitress, teacher or administrative assistant. These positions pay much less than jobs where men work, yet the overall level of knowledge and skill needed is often comparable. Women who have made it into higher-paying managerial and professional jobs fare better, but still do not earn the same pay as their male counterparts. The wage gap is further compounded when dissimilar occupations have equal educational and experience requirements.
Most women work because of economic necessity.
One in five families is headed by a single mom and another three in five families have two working parents. Despite women s greater responsibility for family income, their earnings are still low. Working women earn less than men in nearly every job and at all educational levels. Pay equity is a growing national movement building on the progress made in the 1980s, when 20 states made some adjustments of payrolls to correct for sex or race bias. Twenty-four states, including Washington, DC, conducted studies to determine if sex was a wage determinant.