Gender wage gap worsens for first time in 20 years

Gender wage gap gets worse for the first time in 20 years

What you probably already know: The wage gap between men and women increased last year, according to new data out this week from the U.S. Census, the first statistically significant increase in the gap in 20 years. Wages for men in the U.S. increased by 3% last year while, for women, wages increased only 1.5%, which now means women make 82.7% of what men do, down from 84% in 2022.

Why? The gender pay gap has been steadily improving, but this drop can be largely attributed to a few important factors, including occupational segregation — where industries that are dominated by women typically pay less than men. Last year, manufacturing wages increased 5.4% compared to private education and health care jobs, which increased just 2.9%, significantly less than the 4.1% wage growth across all private sector jobs.

What it means: In addition to the slowing wage growth for women, many are also struggling with the lack of affordable childcare and paid leave, issues that impact women in the workforce more than men, and can set women back for years when they have to drop out of career jobs to care for family members. One in four women are caregivers for family members, and more than half of them provide care for more than two years at a time. It can be an emotionally draining experience that can impact a person’s ability to focus and do well at work, which can have harder-to-measure impacts on their ability to get promotions and new opportunities.

What happens now? The issue of funding child care has become an important campaign topic as the U.S. heads into the fall election season. Both presidential candidates have discussed expanding the child tax credit, which economists say is a good way to reduce child poverty. But a more comprehensive strategy around paid family leave, support for child care, and other programs that would help support women and close the pay gap seem elusive. Some states have enacted policies, but that serves to widen the gap in areas without policies where poverty continues to impact more women than men.