Here’s How Much Men vs. Women Earn at Every Age
Women have certainly come a long way in the last 100 years when it comes to equal rights (despite some significant recent setback), with representation in almost every industry and increases in wages. However, the historically long gender wage gap between men and women persists. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, wages for the average full-time working woman are still just 82% of what men earn, as of 2021, a pay gap that hasn't changed since 2018. And the disparities between pay are even greater for women of color -- with Black, Indigenous and Latina women only earning between 57 and 64 cents for every dollar earned by white men.
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Women were also hit especially hard in the pandemic, triggering what Forbes called a "she-cession" where women lost their jobs in greater numbers than men between 2020 and 2022 and didn't rebound as quickly as men's jobs did. While new pay transparency laws may be on the right track to help shrink the gap by as much as 40% if enacted widely, there's a lot of work to do.
To see how much Americans make at every age, GOBankingRates analyzed the Bureau of Labor Statistics' (BLS) Current Population Survey for annual earnings among both men and women. Take a look at what the modern gender pay gap really looks like.
16 to 19 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $33,488
Annual salary for women: $31,304
Percent women make less than men: 6.52%
20 to 24 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $40,092
Annual salary for women: $36,712
Percent women make less than men: 8.43%
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25 to 34 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $56,732
Annual salary for women: $49,660
Percent women make less than men: 12.47%
35 to 44 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $67,860
Annual salary for women: $57,148
Percent women make less than men: 15.79%
45 to 54 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $70,460
Annual salary for women: $54,184
Percent women make less than men: 23.10%
55 to 64 Years Old
Annual salary for men: $69,108
Annual salary for women: $52,884
Percent women make less than men: 23.48%
65 and Older
Annual salary for men: $62,660
Annual salary for women: $45,396
Percent women make less than men: 27.55%
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Levi Leidy and Jami Farkas contributed to the reporting for this article.
Methodology: To find how much men and women earn at every age, GOBankingRates used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Current Population Survey on the median usual weekly earnings for full time wage and salary workers across industries in the fourth quarter of 2022. GOBankingRates converted weekly earnings figures to annual and found for each age group (1) the median usual earnings for all workers, (2) the median usual earnings for men, and (3) the median usual earnings for women. Then, GOBankingRates calculated (4) the annual difference between earnings for men and women and (5) the difference expressed as a percentage of men's earnings. All data was collected on and up to date as of January 31, 2023.
This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Here’s How Much Men vs. Women Earn at Every Age
