Report: Wage gap significantly wider than we know

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A new study released by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research claims we may be underestimating the gender wage gap we’ve come to know and often cite in arguments.

According to the study, titled “Still a Man’s Labor Market: The Slowly Narrowing Gender Wage Gap,” researchers analyzed earners and labor force participation and found women today earn just 49 cents to the typical man’s dollar — significantly less than the 80 cents usually reported. 

The study was conducted by economists Heidi I. Hartmann and Stephen J. Rose, and uses the Panel Study on Income Dynamics, a longitudinal dataset to look at the gender earnings gaps between men and women in 15-year time spans. When measured by total earnings across the most recent 15 years for all workers who worked in at least one year, women workers faced a wage gap of 51 percent in the 2001-2015 period. The analysis also found that while the long-term earnings gap has narrowed significantly since 1968, progress has slowed in the last 15 years.

As progress slows, Rose said in the study it will be important to prioritize policies “that strengthen women’s labor force attachment.”

See other major findings from the study online.