The State of the Gender Pay Gap

By the early 20th Century, women made up a quarter of the American workforce but were traditionally paid far less than men, even in cases where they performed the same job. In some states, female workers were also forced to contend with laws restricting their working hours or prohibiting them from working at night. Efforts to correct the wage gap escalated during World War II when American women entered factory jobs instead of the men who had enlisted in the military. In 1942, for example, the National War Labor Board endorsed policies to provide equal pay in instances where women were directly replacing male workers. However, by 1960, women still earned less than two-thirds of what their male counterparts were paid.

In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law, mandating equal pay for equal work. The bill was among the first laws in American history aimed at reducing gender discrimination in the workplace. Despite pay discrimination being illegal for over half a century, the gender pay gap remains a glaring inequity, undermining both workers’ livelihoods and the strength of our economy. 

Although women have seen gains in education over the last five decades, they continue to face a significant wage gap. Among workers, women outnumber men in the college-educated labor force and are more likely to obtain a graduate degree than men. Even so, women are paid less than men at every education level by an average of 17%.

Forces Driving the Gap

Differences in types of jobs worked Occupational segregation refers to the funneling of women and men into different types of industries and jobs based on prevailing gender norms and expectations. So-called women’s jobs, which are jobs that have historically had majority-female workforces, such as home health aides and childcare workers, tend to offer lower pay and fewer benefits than so-called men’s jobs, which are jobs that have had predominantly male workforces, including jobs in trades such as building and construction. 

Lack of paid family and sick leave pay. Women tend to work fewer hours as paid employees during their careers due to caregiving responsibilities. The United States is one of only six countries that does not have a governmentally mandated national paid parental leave policy. Maternity leave is one area where the U.S. is considerably behind other countries. Women tend to face additional gendered financial strain without paid leave due to the probability that they will most likely be the parent who takes unpaid time off for birth or the adoption of a new child or for caregiving responsibilities for older adults. 

Good old-fashioned discrimination. The frequent, widespread practice of discrimination can thrive, especially in workplaces that discourage open discussion of wages and where employees fear retaliation. Beyond explicit decisions to pay women less than men, employers may discriminate in pay when they rely on prior salary history in hiring and compensation decisions. This can enable pay decisions that could have been influenced by discrimination to follow women from job to job.

How to Close the Gap

Equal pay laws: Rigorous enforcement and strengthening of the Equal Pay Act, reinstatement of pay data collection by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity  Commission (EEOC), and advancing state pay equity laws will go a long way to  ensuring women, particularly women of color, are paid equitably

Higher education support: Making education more affordable will increase earning potential and lower women’s unemployment risk. 

Paid leave: Implementing paid family and medical leave would mitigate the challenges faced by women disproportionately responsible for caregiving. Women taking paid time off when pregnant and taking care of family members or themselves without sacrificing their earnings will prolong their workforce participation, increase mental health benefits, increase loyalty towards their employers, and protect their social security retirement benefits. 

Childcare access: Making high-quality childcare more affordable will increase women’s workforce participation, allowing families more income that can be used for other needs and future savings. 

Reproductive health: Improving access to reproductive care such as contraceptives and abortion care will allow women to have more autonomy by increasing their ability to pursue higher education, participate fully in the labor force, and choose when or if they want to have children.

The topic of pay inequality is one rife with cognitive dissonance. Women earn less because they choose lower-paying careers than men because they don’t work as hard as men or because they don’t negotiate as successfully as men. Or the wage gap doesn’t exist because their brother-in-law told them about a woman at his company who out-earns most men or because their favorite bro podcaster says it’s not a thing. All of the data prove otherwise. The bottom line is that the wage gap is real; it is not closing, and corporations need to improve.