Men still outearn women in nearly every occupation and sector, making the gender pay gap nearly impossible to close, according to the latest findings from Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR).
The findings coincide with Equal Pay Day, today. Even in the top 20 professions for women, men are still out earning women, confirms IWPR. Its latest report reveals that women earn 14% less than their male counterparts even in the job sectors that women dominate. More alarming is the fact that the gender wage gap by occupation is even wider, when race and ethnicity are taken into consideration. Released annually, the IWPR report provides a snapshot of the median weekly earnings for the most common occupations held by men women and men.
JOBS WITH BIGGEST PAY GAPS
The profession with the largest gender wage gap is financial managers. Women’s 2019 median weekly earnings for full-time work in this occupation were just 63.6% of those of men – a gender wage gap of 36.4%, resulting in a median earnings loss of $35,880 annually. But even among nurses – an occupation where women make up most of the workforce – men working full-time have higher weekly earnings than women.
The top 5 occupations with biggest gender wage gap, include:
- Financial Managers (63.6%)
- Managers, all others (76.3%)
- Teacher Assistants (81.0%)
- Chief Executives (80.5%)
- Accountants and Auditors (80.4%)
By race and ethnicity, women of colour earn less than their male counterparts in management, business, and financial operations occupations. In these occupations, Black women earn 82.7% of Black men’s earnings, but only 67% of White men’s earnings.
The median weekly earnings of Hispanic women who work full-time in ‘service’ occupations are just $12 above the poverty threshold for a family of four. One in four Hispanic women work full-time in such jobs.
DRAMATIC SLOWDOWN
Progress in closing the gender wage gap has slowed down dramatically compared to earlier decades. At the current rate of change, it will take until 2059 for women and men to reach earning parity, and substantially longer for women of colour, confirms IWPR. Black women’s median annual earnings won’t reach parity with White men until 2130, and for Hispanic women it will take until 2224.
“Closing the gender wage gap is critical to alleviating poverty and improving the economic security of working women and their families,” said C. Nicole Mason, President and CEO of IWPR. “It would also be a boon for the economy. We can do more to accelerate the closing of the gender wage gap through sound public policies, employer education and training, and challenging the culture that doesn’t value women’s contribution to the workforce.”
EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
“If women and men were paid equally for equal work, nearly 60% of women would see a pay increase, including almost two-thirds of single mothers, and the number of working women in poverty would be halved,” added Mason. “We must accelerate the closing of the pay gap through sound policies, such as the Paycheck Fairness Act, culture and narrative change, and more employer accountability.”
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