Gender Pay Gap

The “gender pay gap” refers to the average difference in men’s and women’s earnings, and is typically adjusted for hours worked. The gender pay gap can refer to differences in mean or median annual earnings, weekly earnings, or hourly wage. Because women tend to work part-time at higher rates than do men, and because part-time work tends to pay lower hourly wages relative to full-time work, the size of the gender pay gap is affected by whether full- and part-time, full-year or seasonal, and very young and very old workers are included in the estimates. Among full-time, year-round American workers aged sixteen and above in 2017, the gender pay gap (median weekly earnings) was 18.2 percent, meaning that women earned 81.8 cents of every man’s dollar. In the United States, women of color earn less relative to white men than white women do, owing to racial gaps in pay among women; moreover, within-race gender pay gaps are often smaller among racial/ethnic minorities, reflecting the low earnings of minority men. The gender gap has narrowed considerably since the early 20th century, yet disparities in women’s and men’s earnings persist. Moreover, this narrowing has not proceeded in a linear fashion and the gap has occasionally increased. This entry first introduces important literatures on historic and contemporary trends in the gender pay gap and then discusses the various explanations for the persistence of, and changes in, the gap. These explanations highlight the role of occupational gender segregation; the devaluation of female-typed work; gender differences in experience; family structure, care responsibilities, and the gendered impact of parenthood; workplace structures of inequality; glass ceilings and glass escalators. This entry concludes with a discussion of narrowing the gap and what it will take to close the gap.