Gender pay gap remains largely unchanged, study finds
(NewsNation) — Working women made 82 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2022, according to research from the Pew Research Center, a rate that’s remained steady the past two decades.
The analysis shows how the United States has struggled to make meaningful strides in closing the gender pay gap. The 2022 results are similar to where the rate stood in 2002, when women made 80% as much as men.
The rate was once as low as 65 cents for every dollar in 1982, a gap that closed by 15 cents over the next 20 years. But progress has stalled since.
The wage gap in 2022 was smaller for workers ages 25-34 than all workers age 16 and older. The 25-34 cohort made 92 cents for every dollar earned by a man earned in that same age group.
Pew analyzed data for both full-time and part-time workers based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which also estimates the gender gap, but only for full-time workers. In 2021, working women made 84% of what their male counterparts did, according to the agency’s most recent estimate.
There are a few reasons for the gender pay gap, according to the Center for American Progress. They include differences in industry, years of experience and number of hours worked.
In an October 2022 survey conducted by Pew, half of U.S. adults pointed to women being treated differently by employers as a factor in the wage gap. Women were much more likely than men to hold this view (61% vs. 37%).
Pew’s data analysis also found that the gender pay gap increases with age. Women who were ages 25-34 in 2010 earned 92% of their male counterparts. By 2022, that same group of women earned 84%.
Closing the pay gap has been the focus of several lawmakers over the years, and the U.S. marks Equal Pay Day annually to denote how far into the year women must work to earn the same as their male counterparts. This year, it’s March 14.