Research

Women’s Earnings: The Pay Gap (Quick Take)

Mar 11, 2022

GLOBAL

Women Continue to Experience Gender Wage Gaps Worldwide

Among OECD countries, the overall gender wage gap as of 2019 was 12.5%.1 While the average appears close to parity, there can still be a large variation between countries. For instance, Japan had a gap of 22.5% while Mexico had a pay gap of 9.6% in 2020.2

Leading causes of the gender pay gap include gender segregation in jobs, differences in educational attainment, caregiving responsibilities that fall heavily to women, a lack of pay transparency, discrimination, and bias.3

Some Legislatures Are Taking Action to Address Their Gender Wage Gap

Several countries have passed legislation requiring companies to take steps to address their gender wage gap, including (but not limited to): Australia, Canada (Ontario), France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States (varies by state).4

CANADA

By Every Measure, Canadian Women Face a Gender Wage Gap

Among full-time workers in 2021, women earned:5

  • 90.5% of what men earned based on average hourly wage rates.
  • 85.5% of what men earned based on average weekly wage rates.

Among all workers (full- and part-time) in 2021, women earned:6

  • 88.7% of what men earned based on average hourly wage rates.
  • 79.6% of what men earned based on average weekly wage rates.
For Canadian Women of Colour, the Wage Gap Is Even Higher

According to the latest Census data (2016), Canadian women of colour earned less compared to Canadian men who did not identify as people of colour, based on median wages, salaries, and commissions:7

  • All women of colour: 59.3%
  • South Asian women: 55.1%
  • Chinese women: 65.4%
  • Black women: 58.5%
Canadian Women’s average weekly wage as a percentage of men’s for select industries in 2021:8
  • Wholesale and Retail Trade: 73.7%
  • Construction: 75.5%
  • Finance, Insurance, Real Estate, Rental and Leasing: 77.8%
  • Manufacturing: 81.0%
  • Accommodation and Food Service: 86.6%
  • Health Care and Social Assistance: 88.6%
  • Utilities: 94.2%

EUROPE

The Gender Pay Gap Varies Widely Across the EU9

In 2020, women made, on average, 13.0% less than men across the European Union (EU-27), based on gross hourly earnings.10

  • The gap persists in every European country, including:11
    • France: 15.8%
    • Germany: 18.3%
    • Netherlands: 14.2%
    • Sweden: 11.2%

Women in the United Kingdom earned 11.9% less than men based on average hourly earnings for full-time workers in 2021.12

UNITED STATES

A Gender Wage Gap Exists in the United States No Matter How It Is Counted

Women earned 83.0% of what men earned in 2020, based on the real median earnings for full-time, year-round workers (meaning that women earned 83 cents for every $1 earned by men).13

  • This has risen from 60.2% in 1980.14
  • Women earned a median of $50,982 annually in 2020, and men earned $61,417.15

Women earned 83.1% of what men earned in 2021, based on the median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers.16

  • This has increased from 62.3% in 1979.17
  • Women earned a median of $912 weekly in 2021, while men earned $1,097.18
Women’s median weekly earnings as a percentage of men’s for select industries and occupations in 2021:19
  • Management Occupations: 76.5%
  • Lawyers: 76.6%
  • Healthcare: 80.3%
  • Business and Financial Operations: 80.7%
  • Service Occupations: 82.7%
  • Architecture and Engineering: 83.2%
  • Computer and Mathematical Occupations: 86.1%
Most Women of Color Have a Higher-Than-Average Gender Wage Gap

Compared to every $1 earned by White men in 2020:

  • Black women earned 64 cents.20
  • Latinas earned 57 cents.21
  • White women earned 79 cents.22

Asian women earned 101 cents on average, but the wage gap can be substantially larger for some subgroups of AAPI women.23 For example, Burmese women (52 cents) and Nepali women (54 cents) are paid well below White men, based on earnings from 2015-2019.24

Women, Especially Women of Color, Experience a Significant Cumulative Lifetime Wage Gap in the United States

Based on the 2020 wage gap, women in the US lose, on average, $417,400 over a 40-year career compared to White men.25 These average losses are amplified when comparing across racial and ethnic groups. In 2020, the breakdown by race and ethnicity was:26

  • AANHPI women: $120,000
  • Black women: $976,800
  • Latinas: $1,156,440
  • Native American women: $1,080,000
  • White, non-Hispanic women: $555,920
The Gender Wage Gap Is Smaller for Younger Workers

While the gap has narrowed overall in the past few decades, the wage gap has historically been narrowest for younger women and larger in higher age groups.27

In 2020, women aged 16-24 years earned 94.7% of what men in the same age group earned, based on median weekly earnings.28

  • Among workers over 65 years old, women earned just 80.4% of men’s median weekly earnings for full-time wages and salaries.29
A Note About Measuring the Gender Pay Gap

There are a variety of ways to measure the gender wage gap. All of them tend to show a gap, but there are important differences to consider, which account for the range of data reported:30

  • Comparing the annual earnings of full- and part-time workers can be considered the most inclusive method, as it comprises differences in pay and in time spent at work and recognizes women’s unearned wages due to time spent on unpaid household and caregiving work.
  • Another common method is to look only at the annual earnings of women and men working full-time.
  • Comparing the hourly wages of all workers will control, to an extent, for the differences in overall hours worked, as men are more likely to work full-time and women part-time.

LEARN MORE

How to cite this product: Women’s earnings – The pay gap: Quick Take. (March 1, 2022). Catalyst.

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  2. OECD data – Gender wage gap [Data set]. (n.d.). OECD.
  3. The simple truth about the gender pay gap: 2021 update. (2022). American Association for University Women (AAUW); Gamage, D.K., Kavetsos, G., Mallick, S., & Sevilla, A. (2020, August). Pay transparency initiative and gender pay gap: Evidence from research-intensive universities in the UK. IZA Institute of Labor Economics.
  4. Global gender pay compass. PwC.
  5. Statistics Canada. (2022). Table 14-10-0064-01: Employee wages by industry, annual [Data set]. Labour force survey.
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  7. Statistics Canada. (2019, June 17). Visible minority (15), income statistics (17), generation status (4), age (10) and sex (3) for the population aged 15 years and over in private households of Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations, 2016 census – 25% sample data [Data set]. Data Tables, 2016 Census.
  8. Statistics Canada. (2022). Table 14-10-0064-01: Employee wages by industry, annual [Data set]. Labour force survey.
  9. Eurostat. (2022, March). Gender pay gap statistics. Eurostat: Statistics Explained.
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  11. Eurostat. (2022, March). Gender pay gap statistics. Eurostat: Statistics Explained.
  12. The Fawcett Society announces date of Equal Pay Day 2021. (n.d.) The Fawcett Society.
  13. Shrider, E. A., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau.
  14. Shrider, E. A., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau.
  15. Shrider, E. A., Kollar, M., Chen, F., & Semega, J. (2021). Income and Poverty in the United States: 2020. U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Census Bureau.
  16. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Table 39: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex [Data set]. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.
  17. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020.
  18. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Table 39: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex [Data set]. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.
  19. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2022). Table 39: Median weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by detailed occupation and sex [Data set]. Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey.
  20. The wage gap: The who, how, why, and what to do. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.
  21. The wage gap: The who, how, why, and what to do. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.
  22. The wage gap: The who, how, why, and what to do. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.
  23. The wage gap: The who, how, why, and what to do. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.
  24. Unpublished data from Center for American Progress and National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum (NAPAWF).
  25. The wage gap: The who, how, why, and what to do. (2021). National Women’s Law Center.
  26. Tucker, J. (2022, March 8). The wage gap robs women of economic security as the harsh impact of COVID-19 continues. National Women’s Law Center.
  27. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020.
  28. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020.
  29. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). Highlights of women’s earnings in 2020.
  30. Statistics Canada. (2019, August 30). Measuring and analyzing the gender pay gap: A conceptual and methodological overview. The Daily.