Most Women Working Today Will Not See Equal Pay during their Working Lives

WASHINGTON, Sept. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 2012 earnings figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau yesterday do not hold much good news for women. Real earnings have failed to grow, and the gender wage gap is at the same level as it was in 2002.  Women's median annual earnings for 50 or more weeks of full-time work in 2012 were $37,791, compared with $49,398 for men, a gender earnings ratio of 76.5 percent. Real earnings did not increase compared to 2011, and the typical woman earned $11,607 less in 2012 than the typical man.

"Progress in closing the gender wage gap has stalled during the most recent decade. The wage gap is still at the same level as it was in 2002," said Dr. Heidi Hartmann, President of IWPR. "If the five-decade trend is projected forward, it will take almost another five decades—until 2058—for women to reach pay equity. The majority of today's working women will be well past the ends of their working lives."

A new fact sheet released today by the Institute for Women's Policy Research, maps the gender earnings ratio since 1960 and analyzes changes in earnings during the last year by gender, race, and ethnicity. While there is a gender earnings gap between women and men of each major racial/ethnic group, the median earnings of all women are below those of white men. During 2012 the median annual earnings of Hispanic women were only $ 28,424, just 54 percent of the median annual earnings of white men, and at a level that would qualify a woman head of a family of four to receive food stamps.

"While there is no silver bullet for closing the gender wage gap," said Ariane Hegewisch, a Study Director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research and author of the fact sheet, "strengthened enforcement of our EEO laws, a higher minimum wage, and work/family benefits would go a significant way towards ensuring that working women are able to support their families without having to rely on welfare."

The Institute for Women's Policy Research (IWPR) is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women and their families, promote public dialogue, and strengthen communities and societies.

SOURCE Institute for Women's Policy Research