he gender wage gap refers to the difference in earnings between women and men.2 Experts have calculated this gap in a multitude of ways, but the varying calculations point to a consensus: Women consistently earn less than men, and the gap is wider for most women of color.
Analyzing the most recent Census Bureau data from 2018, women of all races earned, on average, just 82 cents for every $1 earned by men of all races.3 This calculation is the ratio of median annual earnings for women working full time, year round to those of their male counterparts, and it translates to a gender wage gap of 18 cents. When talking about the wage gap for women, it is important to highlight that there are significant differences by race and ethnicity. The wage gap is larger for most women of color. (see Figure 1)
Figure 1 The gender wage gap is more significant for most women of color
The wage gaps for each group are calculated based on median earnings data from the U.S. Census Bureau and thus do not necessarily represent each individual woman’s personal experience. In particular, the 90-cent earnings figure for Asian women likely underestimates the wage gap experienced by women belonging to many Asian subgroups. For example, for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men, Filipino women earned 83 cents, Tongan women earned 75 cents, and Nepali women earned 50 cents.4 The larger wage gaps for most women of color reflect the compounding negative effects of gender bias as well as racial and/or ethnic bias on their earnings.5
People living intersectional realities—such as transgender women and immigrant women—also experience the compounding negative effects of multiple biases on their earnings.6 Unfortunately, these women are often left out of the broader conversation about the gender wage gap owing to the limitations of available data. Much more data—disaggregated by sex, race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability status, and more factors—are needed to understand precisely where pay disparities exist and where efforts must be targeted.7
What causes the gender wage gap?
These wage gap calculations reflect the ratio of earnings for women and men across all industries; they do not reflect a direct comparison of women and men doing identical work. This is purposeful. Calculating it this way allows experts to capture the multitude of factors driving the gender wage gap, which include but are not limited to:
Differences in industries or jobs worked. By calculating a wholistic wage gap, researchers can see effects of occupational segregation, or the funneling of women and men into different types of industries and jobs based on gender norms and expectations. So-called women’s jobs, which are jobs that have historically had majority-female workforces, such as home health aides and child care workers, tend to offer lower pay and fewer benefits than so-called men’s jobs, which are jobs that have had predominantly male workforces, including jobs in trades such as building and construction. These gendered differences are true across all industries and the vast majority of occupations, at all levels, from frontline workers to midlevel managers to senior leaders.8
Differences in years of experience. Women are disproportionately driven out of the workforce to accommodate caregiving and other unpaid obligations and thus tend to have less work experience than men. Access to paid family and medical leave makes women more likely to return to work—and more likely to return sooner. However, as of March 2019, only 19 percent of civilian workers had access to paid family leave through their employers and only 40 percent had access to short-term disability insurance benefits to deal with their own medical needs.9