Women earned 82 cents for every dollar made by men in 2022, according to a Pew Research Center analysis on median hourly earnings of full- and part-time workers, showing the gender wage gap has remained fairly stable over the past 20 years.
Pew's research, released Wednesday, showed the pay gap narrowed just 2 cents over the previous 20 years, when women earned 80 cents for every dollar made by men in 2002. Among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2022, women earned 92 cents for every dollar made by men.
The study said the estimated 18-cent pay gap among all workers in 2022 was down from 35 cents in 1982. And the 8-cent gap among workers ages 25 to 34 in 2022 was down from a 26-cent gap from four decades earlier.
"There is no single explanation for why progress toward narrowing the pay gap has all but stalled in the 21st century," the study said. "Women generally begin their careers closer to wage parity with men, but they lose ground as they age and progress through their work lives, a pattern that has remained consistent over time.
"The pay gap persists even though women today are more likely than men to have graduated from college. In fact, the pay gap between college-educated women and men is not any narrower than the one between women and men who do not have a college degree."
The study said mothers ages 25 to 44 are less likely to be in the labor force than women of the same age who do not have children at home, and they tend to work fewer hours each week when employed. This can reduce the earnings of some mothers. Fathers, though, are more likely to be in the labor force — and to work more hours each week — than men without children at home.
The study said among racial groups in 2022, Black women earned 70% as much as white men and Hispanic women earned 65% as much. The ratio for white women stood at 83%, about the same as the earnings gap overall, and Asian women were closer to parity with white men, making 93% as much.
Higher education, a shift to higher-paying occupations and more labor market experience helped women narrow the gender pay gap since 1982, the study said.
"More sustained progress in closing the pay gap may depend on deeper changes in societal and cultural norms and in workplace flexibility that affect how men and women balance their careers and family lives," the study said. "New research suggests that family friendly policies in the U.S. may be keeping the pay gap from closing.
"Gender stereotypes and discrimination, though difficult to quantify, also appear to be among the 'last-mile' hurdles impeding further progress."
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