The difference in earnings between full-time working women and men is now the narrowest on record, according to an Axios analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which was published earlier this week.
Full-time working women had median weekly earnings of $1,001 last quarter, about 84% of the $1,181 median for men. It’s the smallest the gap has been since 1979, the first year for which earnings data is available. That year, women’s median earnings were 62% of men’s.
I think we should try to close that gap by getting more women into higher-earning jobs. Maybe that will help close the much wider Occupational Fatality Gap: over 90% of workplace deaths are male, especially in the logging and fishing industry. And since society cares more about women, getting women into those dangerous jobs will help improve safety for all!
Ignoring that the “pay gap” is an excellent example of manipulating statistics and data…
If you look at a breakdown by age then young (~18-24) women are out earning men these days (which is presented as a “negative” gap, of course).
You always need to look carefully at what is being compared.
So many people believe the wage gap means that women are being discriminated against for doing “the same job for less money”. It took me forever to understand that this “gap” just means they take EVERYone, and find the median wage. that men are choosing STEM fields instead of social fields. Duh?
