What’s behind the wage gap between men and women?
It has narrowed recently. In 2023, women’s median weekly wages of $1,005 equaled 84% of men’s $1,202 in weekly wages. That’s an all-time high, and a distinct uptick from a fairly steady 80% to 82% between 2004 and 2020.
Yet 84% is still not 100%, even though equal pay for equal work has been the law of the land since the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
So, what gives? Are women really being paid only 84 cents on the dollar to do the exact same jobs as men?
Of course not. In this day and age, that simply wouldn’t fly. For starters, there are currently 2.3 million more job openings than there are unemployed workers. So, any woman who is being paid less than a male co-worker for the exact same job has a good shot at finding a new job where she will be paid equally.
And…
