The Trend in the Male-Female Wage Gap in the United States

Abstract

Despite the rise in the feminist movement, the enactment of equal opportunity legislation, and the rapid increase in women's labor force participation, a substantial sex differential in wages has persisted in the United States for at least 4 decades. Measured by hourly earnings of year-round workers, this wage gap was 31% in 1955, widened to a 35%-37% range by the 1960s and early 1970s, and then narrowed to 33% by 1982. This paper examines the extent to which changes in the characteristics of men and women in the labor force and other factors can account for the observed pattern. The main finding is that increases in women's labor force participation were initially associated with a declining skill level of employed women relative to employed men, where skill is measured by years of schooling and job tenure. More recently the work experience of employed women has been increasing, which helps account for the recent narrowing trend in the wage gap. During the 1970s the wage gap probably woul have narrowed more significantly had it not been for high levels of unemployment combined with the downward pressure on wages of less skilled workers arising from rapid increases in the supply of young workers and women. Gains by younger women in work expectations, work experience, and college enrollment and other work-related investments point to a further narrowing of the wage gap in the next decade.