The Salary Gap Between Men and Women

Men typically still earn more than women, but the gap is closing, says Eric Schurenberg.

Women are close to outnumbering men in the workforce but they continue to earn only 80% as much. How much longer can that disparity last? People who think it won’t ever go away point out that part of the pay gap is due to career choices. One of every eight female workers takes a job in the relatively low paying fields of teaching or nursing but even when men and women sign on for the same career, men tend to earn more. A study of recent MBA candidate showed that the men and the women started at roughly the same salary but after 10 years, the men were way ahead of their female classmates and the reason is motherhood. That leads women to work fewer hours or take career breaks. The recession has helped close the pay gap partly because it has eliminated so many lucrative male dominated jobs in construction, in manufacturing that accelerated a trend that had already been in place for decades. In 1970, 4% of women made as much or more than their husbands according to the Pew Research Center. Today, 22% of wives out-earn their spouses but when they finally close the gender gap is education. There are more women in college than men and nothing affects future earning power like education, except perhaps attitude and that’s changing big time. Unlike their mothers, today’s professional women fully expect to get paid as much as men. It may not be long before they do.