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1 1 (February 21, 2024)

handle is hein.crs/goveojr0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Congressional Research Service Informning Ih legisIative debaLe sirnce 1914 The Gender Earnings Gap Women earn less, on average, than men. This earnings differential-often called the gender earnings gap-raises questions about gender equity in labor markets, women's retirement security, and the potential impact of the gap on national economic performance, among others. This InFocus identifies factors that contribute to the gender earnings gap and may be relevant to congressional consideration of proposals to support equitable labor market outcomes for women and men. Figure I. Ratio of Women's to Men's Median Annual Earnings, 1972-2022 Full-Time, Year-Round Workers Ratio of Median Annual Earnings 84.0% 57.9% 9~72 '982 9~92 2002 2012 2022 Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Historical Income Tables, Table P-40. Note: A full-time, year-round worker is a person who worked 35 or more hours per week and 50 or more weeks during the previous calendar year. Figure 1 plots the ratio of women's to men's full-time, full- year annual median earnings from 1972 to 2022, using U.S. Census Bureau data. This ratio is a summary measure of the gender earnings gap, which in practice takes on a range of values that vary across occupations and worker characteristics. Nonetheless, Figure 1 illustrates several points of interest: * women's median annual earnings are lower than men's throughout the entire 1972-2022 period; * the ratio of women's-to-men's median annual earnings rose rapidly in the 1980s and 1990s, followed by a period of slower growth; and * starting around 2013, growth in the ratio increased, and in 2022, women's median annual earnings were 84% of men's, representing a 16 percentage point gap. The Explained and Unexplained Gap Part of the earnings gap shown in Figure 1 can be attributed to differences between men's and women's employment patterns and other characteristics. Table 1, for example, illustrates select differences between men's and women's educational attainment, full-time work, and occupations in 1972 and 2022, and shows that differences have narrowed considerably since 1972. Updated February 21, 2024 Table 1. Select Worker Characteristics, by Sex Men Women Share of Workers: 1972 2022 1972 2022 With at least a high school 34% 92% 28% 96% diploma or equivalent With at least a bachelor's degree 8% 41% 5% 49% Employed at full-time hours 97% 94% 78% 84% Employed at least half the year 96% 97% 88% 96% (27 weeks or more) Employed in a managerial job 18% 16% 6% 14% Employed in a professional job, 13% 23% 7% 25% excluding nurses and teachers Source: CRS analysis of Current Population Survey, Annual Social and Economic Supplement data from survey years 1973 and 2023. Note: Analysis restricted to non-military wage and salary workers, ages 25-64, employed at the time of survey. Researchers have applied statistical techniques to large- scale survey data to separate the observed gender earnings gap into its explained and unexplained portions. * The explained portion accounts for observed gender differences in factors that affect wages (e.g., education, occupation, work experience), assuming that those attributes are equally valued for men and women (i.e., an MBA has the same value to an employer regardless of the degree-holder's sex). * The unexplained portion is the gap that remains when observed characteristics are taken into account (i.e., the portion of the gap that cannot be explained by observed differences in education, work experience, occupation, or other worker or job characteristics). One interpretation of the unexplained gap is that it measures sex-based discrimination. Although research suggests discrimination is a component, the unexplained gap plausibly measures the impacts of many factors. This is because the data that have been used to estimate the explained and unexplained earnings gaps are limited in their capacity to fully capture worker attributes that could affect earnings. For example, although most labor force surveys collect information on a worker's education, occupation and industry of work, and weekly work hours, many individual characteristics (e.g., technical knowledge, competitiveness, interpersonal skills) and employer-specific attributes (e.g., job features and requirements, provision of formal training and mentoring) are frequently unmeasured. As a result, the unexplained portion of the wage gap-as conventionally measured-will capture many things, including, potentially, unmeasured worker characteristics that affect productivity,

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