Research

Women’s Earnings – The Pay Gap: Quick Take

Mar 02, 2020

GLOBAL

Women Continue to Experience Gender Wage Gaps Worldwide

There has been little change in the full-time employee gender pay gap since 2010.1

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, and discrimination and bias.2

The gender wage gap increases as women age.3

The Gender Wage Gap Varies by Country

The average annual income for women globally is $11,500, compared to $21,500 for men.4

Among OECD countries, the overall gender wage gap is 13.4%.5

  • Korea has the widest gender wage gap at 34.1%, followed by Japan at 24.5% and Israel at 21.8%.6
  • Belgium has the lowest gap at 3.7%, with Greece at 4.5%, and Costa Rica at 4.7%.7
Some Legislatures Are Taking Action to Address Their Gender Wage Gap

The following countries have passed legislation requiring companies to take steps to address their gender wage gap:

  • Australia8
  • Canada (Ontario)9
  • France10
  • Germany11
  • Iceland12
  • Ireland13
  • Spain14
  • Taiwan15
  • United Kingdom16
  • United States17
Hourly, Weekly, and Annual Earnings All Show a Gender Wage 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:18

  • 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.
  • Another common method is to look only at the weekly or annual earnings of women and men working full-time.
  • Comparing the weekly or annual earnings of full- and part-time workers also has value, as it recognizes the wages women don’t earn because they are more often doing the unpaid work of being caregivers.

CANADA

By Every Measure, Canadian Women Face a Gender Wage Gap

Among full-time workers in 2019, women earned:

  • 89.4% of what men earned based on average hourly wage rates.19
  • 84.2% of what men earned based on average weekly wage rates.20

Among all workers (full- and part-time) in 2019, women earned:

  • 87.9% of what men earned based on average hourly wage rates.21
  • 78.2% of what men earned based on average weekly wage rates.22
Over 20 Years, the Gender Wage Gap in Canada Has Closed by Only About Seven Percentage Points

Improvement in the wage gap has been minor since 1999: women’s average full-time, weekly wages have risen from 77.0% to 84.2% of men’s in 201923

Women of Colour in Canada Experience a High Wage Gap

According to the latest Census data (2016), Canadian women of colour earn 79.7% of what Canadian men of colour earn, based on median total income for full-time workers.24

  • Canadian women of colour earn 56.7% of what all men earn.25
  • Among Canadian women of colour, Korean and West Asian women had the highest pay gaps earning 41.5% and 42.7% respectively of what all men earn.26

EUROPE

The Gender Pay Gap Varies Significantly Across the EU

In 2018, Estonia had the highest gender wage gap in the EU-28, with women earning 22.7% less than men, based on average gross hourly earnings.27

  • Romania had the lowest gap, at 3.0%.28
  • The average gender wage gap across the EU-28 was 15.7%.29
The Gender Wage Gap in Selected Countries30
Country Percentage
Belgium 6.0%
France 15.5%
Germany 20.9%
Netherlands 14.8%
Sweden 12.2%
Switzerland (2017) 17.0%
UK 19.9%

UNITED STATES

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

Women earned 81.6% of what men earned in 2018, based on the real median earnings for full-time, year-round workers.31

  • This is compared to 60.2% in 1980.32
  • Women earned a median of $45,097 annually in 2018, and men earned $55,291.33

Women earned 81.5% of what men earned in 2019, based on the median weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers.34

  • This is compared to 62.3% in 1979.35
  • Women earned a median of $821 weekly in 2019, while men earned $1,007.36

Women earned 85.0% of what men earned in 2018, based on median hourly earnings of full-time and part-time workers.37

  • This is compared to 64% in 1980.38
The Gender Wage Gap Increases With Age39

Younger women (16–24 years old) are closer to pay equity. In 2018, these women earned 90.8% of what men in the same age group earned, based on median weekly earnings.40

  • However, there is a wider gap among older workers (over 65 years old). In this age group, women earned just 77.2% of men’s median weekly earnings for full-time wages and salaries in 2018.41
Most Women of Color Have a Higher Gender Wage Gap Than White Women

In 2019, Latinas and Black women had the lowest median weekly earnings compared to all racial/ethnic groups ($642 and $704).42

  • Asian and White men had the highest ($1,336 and $1,036).43
  • Latinas earn 48.1% of what Asian men earn and 62.0% of what White men earn.44
  • Black women earn 52.7% of what Asian men earn and 68.0% of what White men earn.45
Women, Especially Women of Color, Experience a Significant Cumulative Lifetime Wage Gap in the United States
Average Earnings Lost Over a 40-Year Period
Race/Ethnicity Earnings Lost
Latinas46 $1,121,440
Native women47 $977,720
Black women48 $946,120
White, non-Latinas49 $555,000
Asian women50 $360,400
Total, all women51 $406,760

College-educated Millennial women are projected to lose more than a million dollars ($1,066,721) because of the gender wage gap, based on full-time year-round work.52

The Gender Wage Gap in the United States Varies But Is Most Pronounced in Highest-Paying Fields53

The biggest wage gap in the United States is in the finance and insurance industry. Even though women account for more than half of all employees in those industries, they earn only $0.62 for every $1 men make.54

The only industry close to parity is construction. Women earn about $0.99 for every $1 men earn.55

In 2019, women in full-time management, professional, and related occupations earned 73.7% of what men earned.56

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Full list of Catalyst Quick Takes.

Catalyst, Ask Catalyst Express: The Gender Pay Gap.

Lorraine Hariton, “Employers: Fix the Pay Gap, or You’ll be Left Behind,” Catalyst, April 1, 2019.

Canada

Labour Market Information Council, How Much Do They Make? New Evidence on the Early Career Earnings of Canadian Post-Secondary Education Graduates by Credential & Field of Study (2020).

Statistics Canada, The Gender Wage Gap in Canada: 1998-2018 (2019).

Europe

Eurostat, “Gender Pay Gap Statistics.”

United States

AAUW, Equal Pay Laws by State.

AAUW, The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap: Fall 2019 Update (Fall 2019).

“The Pay Check,” Bloomberg, podcast audio.

David Anderson, Margret V. Bjarnnadóttir, Cristian Dezso, and David Gaddis Ross, “Why Companies’ Attempts to Close the Gender Pay Gap Often Fail,” Harvard Business Review, January 21, 2019.

Janice Traflet and Robert E. Wright, “America Doesn’t Just Have a Gender Pay Gap. It Has a Gender Wealth Gap.” The Washington Post, April 2, 2019.

Tamara Lytle, “Closing the Gender Pay Gap,” HR Magazine, June 4, 2019.

How to cite this product: Catalyst, Quick Take: Women’s Earnings – The Pay Gap (March 2, 2020).

  1. OECD, “Gender Wage Gap.”
  2. OECD, Starting Close, Growing Apart: Why the Gender Gap in Labour Income Widens Over the Working Life (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2018); Deborah J. Vagins, The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap: Fall 2019 Update (American Association of University Women, 2019).
  3. OECD, Starting Close, Growing Apart: Why the Gender Gap in Labour Income Widens Over the Working Life (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, 2018).
  4. Rosamond Hutt, “A Woman Would Have to Be Born in the Year 2255 to Get Equal Pay at Work,” The World Economic Forum, December 17, 2019.
  5. OECD, “Gender Wage Gap.”
  6. OECD, “Gender Wage Gap.”
  7. OECD, “Gender Wage Gap.”
  8. “New Workplace Gender Equality Act Lays a Strong Foundation,” Australia Human Rights Commission press release, November 23, 2012.
  9. Pay Transparency Act, 2018 S.O., ch. 5 Bill 3.
  10. Baker McKenzie, “The Latest Developments in Gender Pay: France & Spain Issue New Legislation to Tackle the Gap,” March 21, 2019.
  11. Christine Aumayr-Pintar, “Slow Start for Gender Pay Transparency in Germany,” Eurofound Blog, February 4, 2019.
  12. Jon Henley, “Equality Won’t Happen by Itself’: How Iceland got Tough on Gender Pay Gap,” The Guardian, February 20, 2018.
  13. Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, “The Employment Equality Acts 1998-2015 – A Summary.”; Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, “My Issue Is About Equal Pay.”
  14. Baker McKenzie, “The Latest Developments in Gender Pay: France & Spain Issue New Legislation to Tackle the Gap,” March 21, 2019.
  15. Laws & Regulations Database of The Republic of China, “Act of Gender Equality in Employment.”
  16. Aleksandra Wisniewska, Billy Ehrenberg-Shannon, Cale Tilford and Caroline Nevitt, “Gender Pay Gap: Women Still Short-changed in the UK,” Financial Times, April 23, 2019; Cat Rutter Pooley and Billy Ehrenberg-Shannon, “UK Banks Among Companies with Largest Gender Pay Gaps,” Financial Times, April 5, 2019.
  17. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires women and men to receive equal pay for equal work. Some states have passed legislation to strengthen this protection and improve the gender wage gap. For more information on individual legislation by states, see U.S. Department of Labor, “Pay Transparency and Equal Pay Protections.”; U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, “The Equal Pay Act of 1963.”
  18. Gavin Jackson, “What is the Best Way of Measuring the Gender Pay Gap?,” Financial Times, January 30, 2018; Rakesh, Kochhar, “How Pew Research Measured the Gender Pay Gap,” Pew Research Center, December 11, 2013; Tavia Grant, “Who is Minding the Gap?,” The Globe and Mail, November 12, 2017.
  19. Statistics Canada, “Table 14-10-0064-01 (formerly CANSIM 282-0072): Employee Wages By Industry, Annual,” (2020).
  20. Statistics Canada, “Table 14-10-0064-01 (formerly CANSIM 282-0072): Employee Wages By Industry, Annual,” (2020).
  21. Statistics Canada, “Table 14-10-0064-01 (formerly CANSIM 282-0072): Employee Wages By Industry, Annual,” (2020).
  22. Statistics Canada, “Table 14-10-0064-01 (formerly CANSIM 282-0072): Employee Wages By Industry, Annual,” (2020).
  23. Statistics Canada, “Table 14-10-0064-01 (formerly CANSIM 282-0072): Employee Wages By Industry, Annual,” (2020).
  24. Statistics Canada, “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 Tables, 2016 Census (2019).
  25. Statistics Canada, “Total Population 15 Years and Over, Number of Income Recipients and Median Income for Total Income, Males, Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data, 2006 Census – 20% Sample Data,” Income Highlight Tables, 2016 Census (2019).Census (2019).
  26. Statistics Canada, “Total Population 15 Years and Over, Number of Income Recipients and Median Income for Total Income, Males, Canada, Provinces and Territories, 2016 Census – 100% Data, 2006 Census – 20% Sample Data,” Income Highlight Tables, 2016 Census (2019).Census (2019).
  27. Eurostat, “Gender Pay Gap in Unadjusted Form.”
  28. Eurostat, “Gender Pay Gap in Unadjusted Form.”
  29. Eurostat, “Gender Pay Gap in Unadjusted Form.”
  30. Eurostat, “Gender Pay Gap in Unadjusted Form.”
  31. Real median earnings refers to earnings adjusted for inflation; Jessica Semega, Melissa Kollar, John Creamer, and Abinash Mohanty, “Table A-7: Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2018 ,” Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018 (United States Census Bureau, September 10, 2019): p. 46.
  32. Jessica Semega, Melissa Kollar, John Creamer, and Abinash Mohanty, “Table A-7: Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2018 ,” Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018 (United States Census Bureau, September 10, 2019): p. 46.
  33. Jessica Semega, Melissa Kollar, John Creamer, and Abinash Mohanty, “Table A-7: Number and Real Median Earnings of Total Workers and Full-Time, Year-Round Workers by Sex and Female-to-Male Earnings Ratio: 1960 to 2018 ,” Income and Poverty in the United States: 2018 (United States Census Bureau, September 10, 2019): p. 46.
  34. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 39: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Detailed Occupation and Sex,” Current Population Survey (2019).
  35. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Chart 1. Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s, for Full-time Wage and Salary Workers, 1979-2018 Annual Averages,” Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2018 (November 2019).
  36. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 39: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Detailed Occupation and Sex,” Current Population Survey (2019).
  37. Nikki Graf, Anna Brown, and Eileen Patten, “The Narrowing, but Persistent, Gender Gap in Pay,” FactTank (Pew Research Center, March 22, 2019).
  38. Nikki Graf, Anna Brown, and Eileen Patten, “The Narrowing, but Persistent, Gender Gap in Pay,” FactTank (Pew Research Center, March 22, 2019).
  39. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2018 (November 2019).
  40. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Chart 2. Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Women and Men Who Are Full-time Wage and Salary Workers, By Age, 2018 Annual Averages,” Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2018 (November 2019).
  41. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Chart 1. Women’s Earnings as a Percentage of Men’s, for Full-time Wage and Salary Workers, 1979-2018 Annual Averages,” Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2018 (November 2019).
  42. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 37: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Selected Characteristics,” Current Population Survey (2020).
  43. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 37: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Selected Characteristics,” Current Population Survey (2020).
  44. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 37: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Selected Characteristics,” Current Population Survey (2020).
  45. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 37: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Selected Characteristics,” Current Population Survey (2020).
  46. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for Latina[s]: 2019 State Rankings (November 2019).
  47. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for Native Women: 2019 State Rankings (March 2019).
  48. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for Black Women: 2019 State Rankings (March 2019).
  49. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for White, non-Hispanic Women: 2019 State Rankings (March 2019).
  50. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for Asian Women: 2019 State Rankings (March 2019).
  51. National Women’s Law Center, Lifetime Wage Gap Losses for Women: 2019 State Rankings (March 2019).
  52. Jeff Hayes and Heidi Hartmann, Wage Gap Will Cost Millennial Women $1 Million Over their Careers (Institute for Women’s Policy Research, April 10, 2018).
  53. Anthony P. Carnevale, Nicole Smith, and Artem Gulish, Women Can’t Win, (Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, 2018).
  54. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 19. Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers, by Industry and Gender, 2018 Annual Averages (Numbers in Thousands),” Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, December 2019.
  55. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 19. Median Usual Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers, by Industry and Gender, 2018 Annual Averages (Numbers in Thousands),” Women in the Labor Force: A Databook, December 2019.
  56. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, “Table 39: Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Wage and Salary Workers by Detailed Occupation and Sex,” Current Population Survey (2020).