| Male-female Income Disparity In The Usa |
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Male-female income disparity, also referred to as a "gender gap in earnings", in the United States , also known as the "gender wage gap," the "gender earnings gap" and the "gender pay gap", is used by government agencies and economists to refer to statistics gathered by the U.S. Census Bureau , as part of the Current Population Survey , comparing Median male wages to Median female wages. The gender gap is usually expressed as the ratio of female to male earnings among full-time, year-round (FTYR) workers. So, for example, in 2004 the median income of FTYR male workers was $40,798, compared to $31,223 for FTYR female workers (DeNavas-Walt et al, 2005). 31,223 divided by 40,798 is .765, so the gender earnings gap in 2004 was .765. This is often expressed as a percentage: e.g., "in 2004, women's wages were 76.5% of men's wages," or "in 2004, women earned 23.5% less than men earned." What the gender gap does not include The gender gap does not compare earnings of ''all'' women and ''all'' men. Because only full-time, year-round workers are included, the gender gap does not include part-time workers, or workers who work only part of the year. Nor does the gender gap include the value of perks and benefits; only the money part of wages is included. If the calculations included part-time workers and perks, the gender gap in favor of men would be significantly increased. However, the FTYR gender gap figure does not account for the fact that full-time male workers, on average, work longer hours (8 more per week) than full-time female workers (Rones et al, 1997). Nor does it account for differences in experience or job titles. If these factors were included in the calculations, the gender gap in favor of men would be significantly decreased. TRENDS IN THE GENDER EARNINGS GAP Women's pay (relative to men's) rose rapidly from 1980 to 1990 (from 60.2% to 71.6%), and has risen less rapidly from 1990 to 2004 (from 71.6% to 76.5%). It's important to understand, however, that the gender earnings gap is a relative figure, and thus a shrinking pay gap does not necessarily indicate a real improvement in women's income. Arguably, most of the reason the wage gap is smaller now than it was in 1979 is that men, on average, are being paid less. In 1973, an average women's hourly wage was 63% of an average man's hourly wage; by 1997, an average women earned 79% of what an average man earned in an hour (a rise of 16%). But if men's wages hadn't dropped since 1973, an average woman in 1997 would have earned 67% of what an average man earned in an hour - a rise of only 4% since 1973. (Mishel et al, 1998). |
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