Gender Pay Gap, Job Satisfaction in 2023
As this is Women’s History Month, I wanted to explore and reflect on how women are doing in the workplace. Recently the Pew Research Center released reports that (surprise!) the gender gap is largely unchanged since the 1980s. Sigh. But there are some reasons to hope… (pay transparency?)
Gender Pay Gap
First, the gender pay gap is still there. In 2022, women earned an average of 82% of what men earned. The gap narrows among younger workers and grows among older workers.
Second, the pay gap differs by race and ethnicity. According to the Gender Pay Gap Facts Report,
“in 2022, Black women earned 70% as much as White men and Hispanic women earned only 65% as much. The ratio for White women stood at 83%, about the same as the earnings gap overall, while Asian women were closer to parity with White men, making 93% as much.”
I do wonder how the growing pay transparency effort will impact these trends over time.
Third, the percentage of women working in certain careers has increased in careers requiring a college degree (management, finance, law, computer science), but otherwise stayed the same in others.
If you’re curious about details similar to the graph above, read the data essay The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap. and Calculate the Pay Disparity in Your Metro Area.
Job Satisfaction
Given the pay disparity and family demands described in the above reports, it’s not too surprising that although men and women express similar levels of job satisfaction, women are less satisfied with their benefits and pay. See,
Learn about the different kinds of job satisfaction in Career Key’s career advice resources.
I highly recommend exploring these data essays, which are surprisingly easy to read given the depth of information. In contrast to the general media, they will give you a better sense of the American workplace and people’s attitudes toward pay and benefits.
