Underlying Factors
Factors accounting for the gender wage gap
Factors accounting for the gap include Education, Occupational Selection, Marital and Family status, and share of women in the work place
Education
Women are earning more degrees
More education is usually associated with higher earnings. Historically, women had lower levels of college education than men, which could have contributed to the overall wage gap. However, according to the US Census Bureau, in the last few decades women have outpaced men in educational attainment.
Between 1975, and 2015, the number of women in the labor force age 25+ with a college degree increased from 14% to 41%.
As of 2015, there were more women with college degrees (41%) than men with college degrees (36%) in the workforce. (1)
Earnings by Education Levels
Data from the US Census Bureau comparing educational attainment to money earned shows a wage gap regardless of education level. Under all categories of educational levels, men make more than women. For Example
Comparing men and women with advanced degrees working full time year-round: women are paid just 75 cents for every dollar paid to men.
Even when women have higher degrees they are paid less than men with lower degrees! Among full-time, year-round workers
Women with associate’s degrees are paid less than men with just a high school diploma
Women with master’s degrees are paid less than men with bachelor’s degrees. (2)
Marital Status
Marital and family status are a factor of the gender wage gap. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported, in 2017, that full-time single workers who have never married have the smallest gender wage gap.
Single women earn 91.3% of single of what single men earn. A gap of only 8.7% .
Marriage has a significantly negative effect on women’s earnings. The gap greatly increases for married women working full time.
Married women earn 78.5% of what married men earn. A gap of 21.5%.
Motherhood has also shown to have a significant and negative effect on women’s earnings.
Married women with children (under 18 years at home) earn 79.2% of what married men with children earn. A gap of 20.8%. (3)
Occupational Selection
Occupational selection is a factor accounting for the gender wage gap according to a report, An Analysis of the Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women, prepared by the US Department of Labor.
Historically women and men have chosen different occupations. Thus, the percentage of female workers in different occupations varies greatly. Women have typically worked in low waged occupations.
Teachers
Nurses
secretaries
Retail sales Clerks
While men have typically worked in high wage occupations.
Doctors
Lawyers
Engineers
Scientists
As a result, the average earnings of women has been much lower than the average earnings of men. (1)
Similar Job Categories
The US Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), in their Highlights of Women’s Earning 2017 report, showed that the occupational distribution of female and male full-time workers differ considerably. Even though there are actually more women in the category of “professional occupancies”, the higher end, higher paying jobs are mostly taken by men.
"Professional" Computer oftware Developers earn $105,996 /year and are only 23% of women.
"Professional" Education Administrators earn $64,989 /year and are only 64% women. (4).
Female Dominated Professions
Female dominated professions paying less. Many professions dominated by women are low paid, and professions that have become female-dominated have become lower paid. Even more unfortunate, when women start to dominate a field, the average pay in that field tends to decline. There is evidence of devaluation when a woman enters an industry. Meaning that the work done by women is devalued. For example
Computer programming has moved from a mixed profession to a male dominated profession and become a higher paid profession.
On the flip side when more women became park rangers, pay in the field went down.
Share of women in the work place
Since 1975 the wage gap has gotten smaller, but the progress has stalled in the past decade. The Women's Bureau of the DOL shows that in the past several decades there has been a steady increase of women in the labor force age 25+ with a college degree.
Between 1975 and 2015, the share of women in the work force increased from 14% to 41%.
By 1999, women's participation peeked to 60%.
This increase in participation is reflected in the narrowing of the wage gap.
Women's duties outside the work place
Even though more women are working, they are also more likely to spend time doing unpaid household and caregiving activities which can take away from their time at work. These additional duties affect the amount of hours women work and the type of jobs they hold. There is a lack of workplace support. (1)
Women are more than twice as likely to do housework on an average day than men.
They also spend more time on child and elderly care.