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Women Still Earning (Significantly) Less Than Men

By Jennifer Hicks
June 7, 2004

The Census Bureau recently released a report that details the earning discrepancy between men and women. The results are not heartening.

Men earn 23 to 54 percent more than women in all age groups: Women at every percentile level of their earnings distribution earn less than men at the same percentile level. The median annual salary for men is $38,000 and for women it is $26,000. Contributing to this discrepancy is the age gap within the industries themselves. For instance, the highest-paid occupation for men and for women is physicians and surgeons, but the female median ($88,000) is only 63 percent of the male median ($140,000).

The Census Bureau suggests, however, that this is not "necessarily due to discrimination in hiring or promotion, though that may well be a contributing factor. Other underlying processes, such as free choice, geographic location, educational opportunities, industrial growth, culture, marriage and employment practices, genderbased preferences, the presence of unions, work history and experience, and many other factors may contribute to differences in remuneration."

However, after studying a number of those variables, the Bureau also concluded that "earnings between men and women that is unexplained, even after controlling for work experience (to the extent it can be represented by age and presence of children), education, and occupation."

As an AP reporter put it, "Myra Strober, a Stanford University economics professor, said the report and other studies show, 'If you are a young woman and want to go into an occupation to earn more money, you'll want to do that in an occupation dominated by men.'"

Also in the report were the findings that Asians, followed by non-Hispanic whites, earn the most. Naturalized citizens who have been in the United States for 10 years or more earn less than those who were born here. Those aged 35 to 54 earn more than younger or older age groups.

Industries with the lowest wages include

• accommodations and food services
• agriculture, forestry, and fishing
• retail trade

Those with the highest wages include

• professional, scientific, and technical services
• utilities
• management positions
• mining

There are more than 2.4 million people employed as secretaries and administrative assistants -- more than in any other group and those in these positions earn 21 percent less than the median average ($26,000 a year compared to $33,000).

Communication equipment workers, of which there are only 500, earn 38 percent more than the median -- or $45,000.

Only physicians, surgeons, and dentists have a median income greater than $100,000.

Read the entire report in pdf format.