Lecture on Gender Pay Gap

May 27, 2024

Gender Pay Gap Lecture Notes

Key Statistics

  • Current Gender Pay Gap: Smallest on record
    • Median weekly earnings: Women ~$1,000, Men ~$1,185
    • Women earn about 84% of what men earn

Influencing Factors

  1. Education and Career Decisions
    • Women getting more education
    • Delaying childbirth to focus on careers
  2. Fast-Growing Occupations
    • Majority female occupations growing: nurse practitioners, pharmacists, health services managers
  3. Changing Norms
    • More fathers participating in child care
    • Women entering male-dominated fields: construction, tech
  4. Increased Flexibility and Remote Work
    • Expanded five-fold since the pandemic
    • Allows better family-career balance

Rising Share of Breadwinners

  • Women increasingly becoming primary earners in households
  • Leads to greater investment in education & work time by women

Seasonal Trends

  • No evidence of pay drops from April-June to July-September
  • Gender pay gap can continue to narrow in the fall

Remaining Challenges

  • Women still making ~16% less than men
  • Larger gap for women of color
  • Young Women:
    • Gap is only 6 cents for ages 16-24
    • Younger women highly career-focused and demand equality
  • Older Women:
    • Larger gaps around 22 cents as they retire

Strategies to Further Narrow the Gap

  • Time: Generational shifts can naturally narrow gaps
  • Policies: Increased paid family leave and childcare subsidies
  • Awareness and Information: Knowing the standard pay rates to better negotiate salaries

Importance of Speaking Up

  • Getting informed on pay differences is crucial
  • Example: MIT study on freelance engineers
    • Women adjusted pay demands when informed of standard rates
    • Gap vanished when women knew what to ask for

Conclusion

  • Fight for wage equality includes better education, policy support, and awareness of pay standards

Speaker: Julia Pollock, Chief Economist at ZipRecruiter