gender pay gap in the United States

In the 1860s, people started focusing on unfair pay, with activists like Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton leading the cause. Susan B. Anthony understood that achieving the right to vote was essential for securing lasting equality for women, as it would prevent them from repeatedly struggling with the same issues. Dedicated to this cause, she tirelessly traveled extensive distances, delivered countless speeches, collected thousands of petition signatures, and organized suffragist efforts to advance the movement for women's suffrage.“Suffragist.” Official Susan B. Anthony Museum & House, susanb.org/suffragist/#:~:text=Anthony-,Susan%20B.,to%20press%20for%20women’s%20suffrage. Accessed 9 Dec. 2024. Despite women earning the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th Amendment, the wage gap remained. In 1944, Congresswoman Winifred Claire Stanley proposed a bill against gender-based pay discrimination, but it failed to pass. Significant strides occurred with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which mandated equal pay for equal work, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed discrimination based on gender. However, both included exceptions that limited their impact. In the 1970s and 1980s, advocates introduced the concept of comparable worth, focusing on wage disparities in jobs requiring similar skills and responsibility. Some states enacted pay equity laws, but federal progress was hindered by opposition, including President Reagan’s dismissal of the concept. The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 made it easier for workers to file wage discrimination complaints by extending the time they have to take legal action, responding to issues raised in a Supreme Court case. The Paycheck Fairness Act, introduced in 2009 and repeatedly reintroduced, sought to make equal pay laws stricter but faced ongoing Senate opposition. Despite gradual improvement, the wage gap remains, with white women earning about 84 cents to a white man’s dollar in 2022—a significant but slow increase from 60 cents in 1960.Daugherty, Greg. “Gender and Income Inequality: History and Statistics.” Investopedia, Investopedia, www.investopedia.com/history-gender-wage-gap-america-5074898

File:US gender pay gap, by sex, race-ethnicity-2009.png

The Census Bureau tracks yearly earnings, which includes bonuses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks weekly earnings, which does not include bonuses.{{cite web|title=Women in the Labor Force, A Databook|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/women-in-the-labor-force-a-databook-2014.pdf|website=Bureau of Labor Statistics|publisher=US Dept of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=November 17, 2016|ref=Report 1052}} In 1980, women earned 60.2 percent of what men earned. In 1990, 71.6 percent. In 2000, 73.7. In 2009, 77.0.{{cite web|author-last1=DeNavas-Walt |author-first1=Carmen |author-first2=Bernadette D. |author-last2=Proctor |author-first3=Jessica C. |author-last3=Smith |url= https://www.census.gov/prod/2010pubs/p60-238.pdf |title= Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2009. |publisher= U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Reports, P60-238, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC |date= 2010 |pages= 7, 50}} In 2018, 81.1.{{cite web |title=Women had higher median earnings than men in relatively few occupations in 2018 |url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/women-had-higher-median-earnings-than-men-in-relatively-few-occupations-in-2018.htm |access-date=January 15, 2020 |website=The Economics Daily |publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |ref=bls2018}} In 2022, Pew Research concluded that the unadjusted gap has been essentially static for 20 years among the overall workforce at around 20-22%, though it has narrowed somewhat amongst younger workers.{{Cite web |last=Aragão |first=Carolina |title=Gender pay gap in U.S. hasn't changed much in two decades |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2023/03/01/gender-pay-gap-facts/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Greenwood |first=Shannon |date=2023-03-01 |title=The Enduring Grip of the Gender Pay Gap |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2023/03/01/the-enduring-grip-of-the-gender-pay-gap/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pew Research Center’s Social & Demographic Trends Project |language=en-US}} Pew also found that as of the end of 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic did not appear to have widened the gap.{{Cite web |last=Fry |first=Richard |title=Some gender disparities widened in the U.S. workforce during the pandemic |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/01/14/some-gender-disparities-widened-in-the-u-s-workforce-during-the-pandemic/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Pew Research Center |language=en-US}}In the third quarter of 2021, women earned 86% of what men earned in median hourly wages, compared to 85% two years earlier. The overall pay gap reflects that employed women tend to have higher educational attainment than employed men. In 2021, 48% of employed women aged 25 and older had at least a bachelor’s degree, compared to 40% of men. Women’s earnings are somewhat boosted by this educational advantage, which helps maintain the overall gap.Fry, Richard. “Some Gender Disparities Widened in the U.S. Workforce during the Pandemic.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 14 Jan. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/01/14/some-gender-disparities-widened-in-the-u-s-workforce-during-the-pandemic/

File:US gender pay gap by state.svg.

{{legend|#238B45|85.0–90.2%}}

{{legend|#66C2A4|80.0–85.0%}}

{{legend|#B2E2E2|70.0–80.0%}}

{{legend|#DAF6FB|<70.0%}}]]

In 2016, women's earnings were lower than men's earnings in all states and the District of Columbia according to a survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.{{cite web|title= Highlights of women's earnings in 2016 |date= August 2017 |publisher= U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |url= https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-earnings/2016/pdf/home.pdf |pages= 53–55 }} The national female-to-male earnings ratio was 81.9%. Utah ranked lowest at 69.9% and Vermont ranked highest at 90.2%.

File:Equal Pay Infographic.pdf and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, produced by the U.S. Department of Labor's Women's Bureau in 2014 for the 50th anniversary of the 1963 Equal Pay Act. ]]

In 2003, the pay differences in many occupations were tracked. Women's median average weekly earnings, as a percent of men's, were higher in two occupations. They were "Packers and packagers, hand", at 101.4 percent, and "Health diagnosing and treating practitioner support technicians", at 100.5.{{cite web| publisher= Bureau of Labor Statistics, Report 978|url= http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpswom2003.pdf |title= Highlights in Women's Earnings in 2003 |date= September 2004}}

In 2009, when looking at thirteen industries, the lowest was "financial activities", at 70.6 percent. The highest was "construction", at 92.2.Bureau of Labor Statistics. [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2011/ted_20110216_data.htm Women's earnings and employment by industry, 2009.] Chart data, February 16, 2011.Bureau of Labor Statistics. [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2011/ted_20110216.htm Women's earnings and employment by industry, 2009.] TED article, February 16, 2011. When looking at one hundred eight specific occupations within those industries, the lowest were "physicians and surgeons" (64.2 percent), "securities, commodities and financial services sales agents" (64.5), "financial managers" (66.6), and "other business operations specialists" (66.9). Women earned more than men in four occupations. From lowest to highest, they were "other life, physical, and social science technicians" (102.4 percent), "bakers" (104.0), "teacher assistants" (104.6), and "dining room and cafeteria attendants and bartender helpers" (111.1).Ariane Hegewisch, Claudia Williams, and Amber Henderson. [http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-updated-april-2011 The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726201553/http://www.iwpr.org/publications/pubs/the-gender-wage-gap-by-occupation-updated-april-2011 |date=July 26, 2011 }} Institute for Women's Policy Research, April 2011.

Also in 2009 Bloomberg News reported that the sixteen women heading companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index averaged earnings of $14.2 million in their latest fiscal years, 43 percent more than the male average. Bloomberg News also found that of the people who were S&P 500 CEOs in 2008, women got a 19 percent raise in 2009 while men took a 5 percent cut.Bloomberg. [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-13/women-ceos-earn-more-than-men-get-pay-raise-in-2009-video.html Women CEOs Earn More Than Men, Get Pay Raise in 2009.] Retrieved on September 7, 2010.

Several studies of women in the legal profession reveal persistent gaps in partnership numbers at major American Law Firms. Despite the fact that women have graduated from law schools in equal numbers for over twenty years, only 16–19% of law firm partners are women.{{cite journal |first1=Joan C. |last1=Williams |first2=Veta |last2=Richardson |title=New Millennium, Same Glass Ceiling? The Impact of Law Firm Compensation Systems on Women |volume=62 |journal=Hastings Law Journal |pages=597 |year=2011 |url=http://repository.uchastings.edu/faculty_scholarship/821}}{{cite journal|last1=Peterson |first1=Trond |last2=Morgan |first2=Laurie |title=Separate and Unequal: Occupation-Establishment Sex Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-sociology_1995-09_101_2/page/329 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |date=September 1995 |volume=101 |issue=2 |pages=329–65 |jstor=2782431 |doi=10.1086/230727|s2cid=145707764 }}

On August 26, 2016 USA Today cited a Forbes report that the Hollywood gender pay gap is wider than that for average working women and that it is worse for stars who are older women.{{cite news |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/08/25/why-men-make-more-than-women-hollywood/89340644/ |title=Why men make more than women in Hollywood |last=Puente |first=Maria |date=August 25, 2016 |newspaper=USA Today}}

According to the American Association of University Professors 2018–19 faculty compensation survey, women full-time faculty were paid on average 81.6% of men and these differences are primarily due to men being in disproportionately at higher paying institutions and having higher ranks.{{cite web |title=2018–19 Faculty Compensation Survey Results {{!}} AAUP |url=https://www.aaup.org/2018-19-faculty-compensation-survey-results#data?link_id=1&can_id=dfab67ddcc597e7d0c150c98024113bf&source=email-aaup-faculty-compensation-survey-shows-little-movement-on-salaries-and-gender-pay-disparity-3&email_referrer=email_526340&email_subject=aaup-faculty-compensation-survey-shows-little-movement-on-salaries-and-gender-pay-disparity |website=www.aaup.org}}

According to a 2020 study by technology job search marketplace Hired, the gender pay gap might be increasing in tech work due to differences in expectations when negotiating salaries.{{ cite news | url=https://www.cnet.com/news/its-equal-pay-day-but-the-gender-pay-gap-could-be-widening-in-tech/ | title=It's Equal Pay Day, but the gender pay gap could be widening in tech | last=Carson | first=Erin | newspaper=CNET | date=2020-03-31 | quote="Salary expectations any candidate has for a given job are closely tied to the salary ultimately offered to them by a prospective employer," Hired CEO Mehul Patel said in the report. "Our data reveals male candidates expect to earn more and our report shows their offers match that expectation." The idea is that 65% of the time, women will ask for lower salaries than men when applying for the same job at the same company. }}

File:Average earnings of workers by education and sex - 2006.png

While greater education increases women's overall earnings, education does not close the gender pay gap.{{cite journal|last1=Blau |first1=Francine D.|last2=Kahn|first2=Lawrence K.|title= The Gender Pay Gap: Have Women Gone as Far as They Can? |journal= Academy of Management Perspectives | year= 2007|volume= 21|issue=1|pages= 7–23|url= https://web.stanford.edu/group/scspi/_media/pdf/key_issues/gender_research.pdf|access-date= March 23, 2015 |doi=10.5465/amp.2007.24286161|s2cid=152531847}} Women earn less than men at all educational levels and the gender pay gap widens for persons with advanced degrees compared to people with high school education.AAUW Report: The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap In 2006, female high school graduates earned 69 percent of what their male counterparts earned ($29,410 for women, $42,466 for men), but women's earnings dropped to 66 percent of men's for those with advanced bachelor's degrees or more ($59,052 for women, $88,843 for men).

File:US womens earnings as a percentage of mens 1979-2005.svg

The earnings difference between women and men varies with age, with younger women more closely approaching pay equity than older women.Catalyst. [http://www.catalyst.org/publication/217/womens-earnings-and-income Women's Earnings and Income.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613053022/http://catalyst.org/publication/217/womens-earnings-and-income |date=June 13, 2010 }} April 2011.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that, in 2013, female full-time workers had median weekly earnings of $706, compared to men's median weekly earnings of $860. Women aged 35 years and older earned 74% to 80% of the earnings of their male counterparts. Among younger workers, the earning differences between women and men were smaller, with women aged 16 to 24 earning 88.3% of men's earnings in the same age group ($423 and $479, respectively).{{cite web| url= http://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/cps/highlights-of-womens-earnings-in-2013.pdf |title= Highlights of women's earnings in 2013|publisher= U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Report 1051|date= December 2014}}

According to Andrew Beveridge, a professor of sociology at Queens College, between 2000 and 2005, young women in their twenties earned more than their male counterparts in some large urban centers, including Dallas (120%), New York (117%), Chicago, Boston, and Minneapolis. A major reason for this is that women have been graduating from college in larger numbers than men, and that many of those women seem to be gravitating toward major urban areas. In 2005, 53% of women in their 20s working in New York were college graduates, compared with only 38% of men of that age. Nationwide, the wages of that group of women averaged 89% of the average full-time pay for men between 2000 and 2005.Roberts, Sam. [https://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/03/nyregion/03women.html?ex=1343793600&en=8941c5442f49a9a4&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss For Young Earners in Big City, a Gap in Women's Favor.] The New York Times, August 3, 2007.

According to an analysis of Census Bureau data released by Reach Advisors in 2008, single childless women between ages 22 and 30 were earning more than their male counterparts in most United States cities, with incomes that were 8% greater than males on average. This shift is driven by the growing ranks of women who attend colleges and move on to high-earning jobs.Dougherty, Conor. [https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704421104575463790770831192 Young Women's Pay Exceeds Male Peers.] The Walls Street Journal, September 1, 2010.Luscombe, Belinda. [http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html Workplace Salaries: At Last, Women on Top] TIME, September 1, 2010.Sharockman, Aaron. [http://www.politifact.com/punditfact/statements/2014/apr/09/genevieve-wood/what-pay-gap-young-women-out-earn-men-cities-gop-p/ What pay gap? Young women out-earn men in cities, conservative pundit claims] PolitiFact, April 9, 2014.Zarya, Valentina. [http://content.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,2015274,00.html Why Women in Their Early 20s Are Out-Earning Men] Fortune, April 12, 2016.

In the U.S., using median hourly earnings statistics (not controlling for job type differences), disparities in pay relative to white men are largest for Latina women (58% of white men's hourly earnings and 90% of Latino men's hourly earnings) and second-largest for Black women (65% and 91% when compared to Black men), while white women have a pay gap of 82%. However, Asian women earn 87% as much as white men, making them the group of women with the smallest pay gap relative to white men.{{Cite news|url=http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/07/01/racial-gender-wage-gaps-persist-in-u-s-despite-some-progress/|title=Racial, gender wage gaps persist in U.S. despite some progress|date=July 1, 2016|newspaper=Pew Research Center|access-date=November 26, 2016}}

The average woman is expected to earn $430,480 less than the average white man over a lifetime. Native American women can expect to earn $883,040 less, Black women earn $877,480 less, and Latina women earn $1,007,080 less over a lifetime. Asian American women's lifetime pay deficit is $365,440.{{Cite news|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/wage-gap-women-of-color_us_570beab6e4b0836057a1d98a|title=The Wage Gap: Terrible For All Women, Even Worse For Women Of Color|last1=Reporter|first1=Lydia O'Connor|last2=Post|first2=The Huffington|date=April 12, 2016|newspaper=The Huffington Post|access-date=November 26, 2016}}

While differences in education level explain a significant portion of the racial pay gap among men, the impact is smaller among women and has diminished over time. This suggests that structural factors beyond education, such as discrimination and occupational segregation, play a significant role in causing wage disparities. Black individuals, even when pursuing higher education, are more likely to engage in community-serving but lower-paid fields. This contributes to their lower overall earnings compared to Whites, who are better represented in profitable professions like engineering and pharmaceutical sciences.Budig, Michelle J., et al. “Racial and gender pay disparities: The role of Education.” Social Science Research, vol. 98, Aug. 2021, p. 102580, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssresearch.2021.102580

For every dollar the typical worker earns, LGBTQ+ White workers earn 97 cents, LGBTQ+ Latino workers earn 90 cents, LGBTQ+ Black workers earn 80 cents, Native American workers earn 70 cents, and LGBTQ+ Asian/Asian Pacific Islander workers earn 1 dollar. As for LGBTQ+ pay gap by gender, LGBTQ+ men earn 96 cents for every dollar the typical worker earns while LGBTQ+ women earn 87 cents. In comparing the pay gap among different races of LGBTQ+ women, Whites earn 96 cents for every dollar, Blacks earn 85 cents, Native Americans earn 75 cents, and Latinos earn 72 cents.

HRC Foundation. “The Wage Gap among LGBTQ+ Workers in the United States.” HRC, www.hrc.org/resources/the-wage-gap-among-lgbtq-workers-in-the-united-states

Any given raw wage gap can be dissected into an explained part, due to differences in characteristics such as education, hours worked, work experience, and occupation, and/or an unexplained part, which is typically attributed to discrimination,Eagly, A.H., & Carli, L. L. Through the labyrinth: The truth about how women become leaders. Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School Press, 2007, {{ISBN|978-1-4221-1691-3}}. differences not controlled for, individual choices, or a greater value placed on fringe benefits.{{cite web |title=An Analysis of Reasons for the Disparity in Wages Between Men and Women |url=https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/public-policy/hr-public-policy-issues/Documents/Gender%20Wage%20Gap%20Final%20Report.pdf |access-date=January 20, 2020 |publisher=US Department of Labor; CONSAD Research Corp |archive-date=March 27, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327195224/http://www.hawaii.edu/religion/courses/Gender_Wage_Gap_Report.pdf |url-status=dead }} This may be further explained when America takes into account that men are more likely to negotiate for higher pay. According to a study by Carnegie Mellon, when negotiating pay, 83% of men negotiated for a higher wage compared to the 58% of women who asked for more.{{Cite news|title = Salary, Gender and the Social Cost of Haggling|url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827.html|newspaper = The Washington Post|date = July 30, 2007|access-date = August 30, 2015|issn = 0190-8286|first = Shankar|last = Vedantam}} Researchers say that women who do request either a raise or a higher starting salary are more likely than men to be penalized for those actions.{{cite journal|url=https://hbr.org/2015/02/why-network-more-is-bad-advice-for-women&cm_sp=Article-_-Links-_-Top+of+Page+Recirculation|title=Why "Network More" Is Bad Advice for Women|journal=Harvard Business Review|date=February 26, 2015|last1=Carmichael |first1=Sarah Green }} Cornell University economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn stated that while the overall size of the wage gap has decreased somewhat over time, the proportion of the gap that is unexplained by human capital variables is increasing.{{cite journal |last1=Blau |first1=Francine D |last2=Kahn |first2=Lawrence M |year=2007 |title=The Gender Pay Gap|journal=The Economists' Voice |volume=4 |issue=4 |doi=10.2202/1553-3832.1190|s2cid=201102126 }}.

Using Current Population Survey (CPS) data for 1979 and 1995 and controlling for education, experience, personal characteristics, parental status, city and region, occupation, industry, government employment, and part-time status, Yale University economics professor Joseph G. Altonji and the United States Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank found that only about 27% of the gender wage gap in each year is explained by differences in such characteristics.{{cite book |last1=Altonji |first1=Joseph G. |last2=Blank |first2=Rebecca M. |year=1999 |chapter=Race and gender in the labor market |pages=3143–259 |editor1-first=Orley C. |editor1-last=Ashenfelter |editor2-first=David |editor2-last=Card |title=Handbook of Labor Economics |volume=3 |issue=C |doi=10.1016/S1573-4463(99)30039-0 |isbn=978-0-444-50189-9}}

A 1993 study of graduates of the University of Michigan Law School between 1972 and 1975 examined the gender wage gap while matching men and women for possible explanatory factors such as occupation, age, experience, education, time in the workforce, childcare, average hours worked, grades while in college, and other factors. After accounting for all that, women were paid 81.5% of what men "with similar demographic characteristics, family situations, work hours, and work experience" were paid.{{cite journal|last1=Wood |first1=Robert G.|last2= Corcoran |first2= Mary E. |last3= Courant|first3= Paul| year= 1993 |title= Pay Differences Among the Highly Paid: the Male-Female Earnings Gap in Lawyers' Salaries |journal= Journal of Labor Economics |volume= 11 |issue= 3 |pages= 417–41 |doi= 10.1086/298302|s2cid=153581021|url= http://davideharrington.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/R22-Earnings-Gap-in-Lawyers-Salaries.pdf|access-date=March 26, 2015}}

Similarly, a comprehensive study by the staff of the U.S. Government Accountability Office found that the gender wage gap can only be partially explained by human capital factors and "work patterns." The GAO study, released in 2003, was based on data from 1983 through 2000 from a representative sample of Americans between the ages of 25 and 65. The researchers controlled for "work patterns", including years of work experience, education, and hours of work per year, as well as differences in industry, occupation, race, marital status, and job tenure. With controls for these variables in place, the data showed that women earned, on average, 20% less than men during the entire period 1983 to 2000. In a subsequent study, GAO found that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor "should better monitor their performance in enforcing anti-discrimination laws."GAO. [http://www.gao.gov/products/A83444 Women's Earnings: Federal Agencies Should Better Monitor Their Performance in Enforcing Anti-Discrimination Laws.] GAO-08-799, August 11, 2008.About.com. [http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm Why Women Still Make Less than Men.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110111095914/http://usgovinfo.about.com/cs/censusstatistic/a/womenspay.htm |date=January 11, 2011 }} Retrieved on July 23, 2011.Folbre, Nancy. [https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/28/happy-equal-pay-day/#more-10011 "Happy Equal Pay Day."] The New York Times, April 28, 2009.

Using CPS data, U.S. Bureau of Labor economist Stephanie Boraas and College of William & Mary economics professor William R. Rodgers III report that only 39% of the gender pay gap is explained in 1999, controlling for percent female, schooling, experience, region, Metropolitan Statistical Area size, minority status, part-time employment, marital status, union, government employment, and industry.{{cite journal |first1=Stephanie |last1=Boraas |first2=William M. |last2=Rodgers |year=2003 |title=How does gender play a role in the earnings gap? An update |journal=Monthly Labor Review |volume=126 |issue=3 |pages=9–15 |url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2003/03/art2full.pdf}}

Using data from longitudinal studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, researchers Judy Goldberg Dey and Catherine Hill analyzed some 9,000 college graduates from 1992 to 1993 and more than 10,000 from 1999 to 2000. The researchers controlled for a multitude of variables, including: occupation, industry, hours worked per week, workplace flexibility, ability to telecommute, whether employee worked multiple jobs, months at employer, marital status, whether employee had children, and whether employee volunteered in the past year. The study found that wage inequities start early and worsen over time. "The portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained after all other factors are taken into account is 5 percent one year after graduation and 12 percent 10 years after graduation. These unexplained gaps are evidence of discrimination, which remains a serious problem for women in the work force."Carman, Diane. [http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5735341 "Why do men earn more? Just because."] Denver Post, April 24, 2007.Arnst, Cathy. [http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/04/working_women_a.html Women and the pay gap.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110912104326/http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2007/04/working_women_a.html |date=September 12, 2011 }} Bloomberg Businessweek, April 27, 2007.American Management Association. [http://www.amanet.org/training/articles/Bridging-the-Gender-Pay-Gap.aspx Bridging the Gender Pay Gap.] October 17, 2007.

In a 1997 study, economists Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn took a set of human capital variables such as education, labor market experience, and race into account and additionally controlled for occupation, industry, and unionism. While the gender wage gap was considerably smaller when all variables were taken into account, a substantial portion of the pay gap (12%) remained unexplained.{{cite journal |first1=Francine D. |last1=Blau |first2=Lawrence M. |last2=Kahn |date=January 1997 |title=Swimming Upstream: Trends in the Gender Wage Differential in the 1980s |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-labor-economics_1997-01_15_1/page/1 |journal=Journal of Labor Economics |volume=15 |issue=1 |pages=1–42 |jstor=2535313 |ssrn=10786 |doi=10.1086/209845|s2cid=154658290 }}

A study by John McDowell, Larry Singell and James Ziliak investigated faculty promotion on the economics profession and found that, controlling for quality of PhD training, publishing productivity, major field of specialization, current placement in a distinguished department, age and post-PhD experience, female economists were still significantly less likely to be promoted from assistant to associate and from associate to full professor—although there was also some evidence that women's promotion opportunities from associate to full professor improved in the 1980s.{{cite journal |last1=McDowell |first1=John M |last2=Singell |first2=Larry D |last3=Ziliak |first3=James P |year=1999 |title=Cracks in the Glass Ceiling: Gender and Promotion in the Economics Profession |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-economic-review_1999-05_89_2/page/392 |journal=American Economic Review |volume=89 |issue=2 |pages=392–96 |jstor=117142 |doi=10.1257/aer.89.2.392}}

Economist June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, found an unexplained pay gap of 8% after controlling for experience, education, and number of years on the job. Furthermore, O'Neill found that among young people who have never had a child, women's earnings approach 98 percent of men's.{{cite report |last1=O'Neill |first1=June |last2=O'Neill |first2=Dave |year=2005 |title=What Do Wage Differentials Tell Us about Labor Market Discrimination? |website=National Bureau of Economic Research |ssrn=697165 |doi=10.3386/w11240|doi-access=free }}

In a stance rejecting discrimination, a 2009 study for the Department of Labour by the CONSAD Research Corporation concluded, "it is not possible now, and doubtless will never be possible, to determine reliably whether any portion of the observed gender wage gap is not attributable to factors that compensate women and men differently on socially acceptable bases, and hence can confidently be attributed to overt discrimination against women." and continued "In addition, at a practical level, the complex combination of factors that collectively determine the wages paid to different individuals makes the formulation of policy that will reliably redress any overt discrimination that does exist a task that is, at least, daunting and, more likely, unachievable." The conclusion was based largely on a study by Eric Solberg & Teresa Laughlin (1995), who found that "occupational selection is the primary determinant of the gender wage gap" (as opposed to discrimination) because "any measure of earnings that excludes fringe benefits may produce misleading results as to the existence magnitude, consequence, and source of market discrimination." They found that the average wage rate of females was only 87.4% of the average wage rate of males; whereas, when earnings were measured by their index of total compensation (including fringe benefits), the average value of the index for females was 96.4% of the average value for males.[http://www.consad.com/content/reports/Gender%20Wage%20Gap%20Final%20Report.pdf "Gender Wage Gap Final Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131008051216/http://www.consad.com/content/reports/Gender%20Wage%20Gap%20Final%20Report.pdf |date=October 8, 2013 }}, 2009

A 2010 study by Catalyst, a nonprofit that works to expand opportunities for women in business, of male and female MBA graduates found that after controlling for career aspirations, parental status, years of experience, industry, and other variables, male graduates are more likely to be assigned jobs of higher rank and responsibility and earn, on average, $4,600 more than women in their first post-MBA jobs. This affects women's ability to pay off student loan debt since college isn't cheaper for a woman even though she can expect to make less after she earns a degree than her male peers. This results in women being in disproportionately more debt than men. This extra debt makes having less income even more debilitating as women have a harder time paying off student loan debt.Stark, Betsy. [https://abcnews.go.com/Business/myth-pipeline-inequality-plagues-working-women-study-finds/story?id=9868961&page=2 "The Myth of the Pipeline: Inequality Still Plagues Working Women, Study Finds."] ABC News, February 18, 2010.Wolgemuth, Liz. [http://money.usnews.com/money/careers/articles/2010/05/14/why-some-women-skirt-the-wage-gap.html?PageNr=2 "Why Some Women Skirt the Wage Gap."] U.S. News, May 14, 2010.Ludden, Jennifer. [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125998232 "Despite New Law, Gender Salary Gap Persists."] National Public Radio, April 19, 2010.Lavelle, Louis. [https://web.archive.org/web/20100307141721/http://www.businessweek.com/bschools/blogs/mba_admissions/archives/2010/03/tktktk_1.html "Catalyst: Women MBAs Lag Behind Men in Jobs, Pay, Promotions."] Bloomberg Businessweek, March 3, 2010.Carter, Nancy M. & Christine Silver (2010). [http://www.catalyst.org/file/340/pipeline%27s_broken_promise_final_021710.pdf Pipeline's broken promise.] Catalyst.

A 2014 study found that the gender pay gap in the United States decreased in size significantly from 1970 to 2010, mainly because the unexplained portion of the gap decreased significantly during this period.{{Cite journal|last1=Mandel|first1=Hadas|last2=Semyonov|first2=Moshe|date=October 1, 2014|title=Gender Pay Gap and Employment Sector: Sources of Earnings Disparities in the United States, 1970–2010|journal=Demography|volume=51|issue=5|pages=1597–1618|doi=10.1007/s13524-014-0320-y|pmid=25149647|s2cid=207472327|issn=0070-3370|doi-access=free}}

In 2018, economists at the University of Chicago and Stanford University, working with Uber analyzing the gender pay gap of Uber drivers demonstrated an average 7% pay gap in a context where gender discrimination was not possible and pay was not negotiated, showing the difference entirely explainable as the difference in average productivity between men and women as a result of driving styles (the average man drove faster), experience (the mean male had more experience driving with Uber than the mean female), and driver choices (men on average worked hours and locations with higher returns).{{cite web|url=https://web.stanford.edu/~diamondr/UberPayGap.pdf |title=The Gender Earnings Gap in the Gig Economy: Evidence from over a Million Rideshare Drivers |first1=Cody |last1=Cook |first2=Rebecca |last2=Diamond |first3=Jonathan V. |last3=Hall |first4=John A. |last4=List |first5=Paul |last5=Oyer |date=May 2020 |website=web.stanford.edu

}}{{Cite web | url=https://www.theverge.com/2018/2/6/16980072/uber-driver-gender-earnings-gap-study | title=Female Uber drivers earn $1.24 per hour less than men: Study| date=February 6, 2018}} The factors above explained 50%, 30%, and 20% of the variance respectively.

The extent to which discrimination plays a role in explaining gender wage disparities can be difficult to quantify, due to a number of potentially confounding variables. A 2010 research review by the majority staff of the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee reported that studies have consistently found unexplained pay differences even after controlling for measurable factors that are assumed to influence earnings – suggestive of unknown/unmeasurable contributing factors of which gender discrimination may be one.{{cite web |date=December 2010 |title=Invest in Women, Invest in America: A Comprehensive Review of Women in the U.S. Economy |url=http://jec.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=9118a9ef-0771-4777-9c1f-8232fe70a45c |publisher=United States Congress Joint Economic Committee |location=Washington, DC |page=80}} Other studies have found direct evidence of discrimination – for example, more jobs went to women when the applicant's sex was unknown during the hiring process than when it was known. Other factors that have been speculated to contribute to the gap include a greater value placed on non-wage benefits and a difference in willingness and/or skills to negotiate salaries.{{cite web |author=Jackson, Brooks |date=June 22, 2012 |title=Obama's 77-Cent Exaggeration |url=http://www.factcheck.org/2012/06/obamas-77-cent-exaggeration/ |website=FactCheck.org}}{{citation |title=Graduating to a Pay Gap – The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation |url=https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-the-earnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331121600/https://www.aauw.org/files/2013/02/graduating-to-a-pay-gap-the-earnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation.pdf |archive-date=March 31, 2019 |url-status=dead}}

A report in 2014 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics stated that employed men worked 52 minutes more than employed women on the days they worked and that this difference partly reflects women's greater likelihood of working part-time.{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.nr0.htm|title=American Time Use Survey|date=June 24, 2015|publisher=Bureau of Labor Statistics}}U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, [https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/womens-databook/archive/women-in-the-labor-force-a-databook-2014.pdf Women in the Labor Force: A Databook], December 2014 Report 1052 (accessed May 24, 2019) In the book Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality, Browne writes: "Because of the sex differences in hours worked, the hourly earnings gap [...] is a better indicator of the sexual disparity in earnings than the annual figure. Even the hourly earnings ratio does not completely capture the effects of sex differences in hours, however, because employees who work more hours also tend to earn more per hour."{{cite book

| last = Browne

| first = Kingsley R.

| title = Biology at Work: Rethinking Sexual Equality

| publisher = Rutgers University Press

| year = 2002

| pages = 73–74

| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=vq_0BUkcZ5MC&pg=PA73

| isbn = 978-0-8135-3053-6}}

However, numerous studies indicate that variables such as hours worked account for only part of the gender pay gap and that the pay gap shrinks but does not disappear after controlling for many human capital variables known to affect pay. Moreover, Gary Becker argued in a 1985 article that the traditional division of labor in the family disadvantages women in the labor market as women devote substantially more time and effort to housework and have less time and effort available for performing market work.{{cite journal |first1=Gary S. |last1=Becker |date=January 1985 |title=Human Capital, Effort, and the Sexual Division of Labor |journal=Journal of Labor Economics |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=S33–58 |jstor=2534997|doi=10.1086/298075 |s2cid=153445351 }} The OECD (2002) found that women work fewer hours because in the present circumstances the "responsibilities for child-rearing and other unpaid household work are still unequally shared among partners."{{cite book |publisher=Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development |year=2002 |chapter=Women at work: who are they and how are they faring? |pages=61–125 |chapter-url=http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/28/58/18960381.pdf |title=Employment Outlook |location=Paris |isbn=978-92-64-19778-7}}

By taking into account education, work experience, and "soft variables" such as motivation and cultural norms there seems to be one major variable that sticks out when talking about the wage gap, and that is the time-off women take for family affairs. In the article Human Capital Models and the Gender Pay Gap, Olson brings up the point that although there's argument that women are paid less than men because of their time-off away from work for family reasons, such as child-rearing, and unpaid house chores actually does not have an effect on women's salaries later in their career. Since this time off does not show a significance difference, there should not be a reason for the wage gap, unless it is based on gender.{{Cite journal|last=Olson|first=Josephine E.|date=September 15, 2012|title=Human Capital Models and the Gender Pay Gap|journal=Sex Roles|volume=68|issue=3–4|pages=186–197|doi=10.1007/s11199-012-0208-5|s2cid=144582371|issn=0360-0025}}{{Failed verification|date=April 2019|reason=Sentence is poorly written and hard to make sense of. Can't seem to find article saying much of what this says-keyword search for major terms mentioned in this don't show any hits (e.g. rearing, time off) nor does abstract support this paragraph}}

{{Main|Occupational segregation}}

{{Further|Pink collar}}

File:US womens earnings and employment by industry 2009.png

Occupational segregation refers to the way that some jobs (such as truck driver) are dominated by men, and other jobs (such as child care worker) are dominated by women. Considerable research suggests that predominantly female occupations pay less, even controlling for individual and workplace characteristics.{{cite journal |last1=Blau |first1=Francine D |last2=Kahn |first2=Lawrence M |year=2000 |title=Gender Differences in Pay |journal=Journal of Economic Perspectives |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=75–99 |doi=10.1257/jep.14.4.75|doi-access=free }} Economists Blau and Kahn stated that women's pay compared to men's had improved because of a decrease in occupational segregation. They also argued that the gender wage difference will decline modestly and that the extent of discrimination against women in the labor market seems to be decreasing.Cicarelli, James and Julianne Cicarelli. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Liu8A8KjDR0C&pg=PA38 Distinguished women economists.] Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003, pp. 36–40, {{ISBN|978-0-313-30331-9}}.

In 2008, a group of researchers examined occupational segregation and its implications for the salaries assigned to male- and female-typed jobs. They investigated whether participants would assign different pay to 3 types of jobs wherein the actual responsibilities and duties carried out by men and women were the same, but the job was situated in either a traditionally masculine or traditionally feminine domain. The researchers found statistically significant pay differentials between jobs defined as "male" and "female," which suggest that gender-based discrimination, arising from occupational stereotyping and the devaluation of the work typically done by women, influences salary allocation. The results fit with contemporary theorizing about gender-based discrimination.{{cite journal |last1=Alksnis |first1=Christine |last2=Desmarais |first2=Serge |last3=Curtis |first3=James |year=2008 |title=Workforce Segregation and the Gender Wage Gap: Is 'Women's' Work Valued as Highly as 'Men's'? |journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |volume=38 |issue=6 |pages=1416–41 |doi=10.1111/j.1559-1816.2008.00354.x}}Vedantam, Shankar. [http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-hidden-brain/201002/the-wage-gap-unconscious-bias-in-judging-the-value-predominantly-female "The Wage Gap – Unconscious Bias in Judging the Value of Predominantly 'Female' Professions."] Psychology Today, February 18, 2010.

In 1996, a study showed that if a white woman in an otherwise all-male workplace moved to an all-female workplace, she would lose 7% of her wages. If a black woman did the same thing, she would lose 19% of her wages.{{cite journal |last1=England |first1=Paula |last2=Reid |first2=Lori L. |last3=Kilbourne |first3=Barbara Stanek |year=1996 |title=The Effect of the Sex Composition of Jobs on Starting wages in an Organization: Findings from the NLSY |journal=Demography |volume=33 |issue=4 |pages=511–21 |pmid=8939422 |jstor=2061784 |doi=10.2307/2061784|s2cid=24596884 |doi-access=free }} Another study from the same year calculated that if female-dominated jobs did not pay lower wages, women's median hourly pay nationwide would go up 13.2% (men's pay would go up 1.1%, due to raises for men working in "women's jobs").{{cite journal |last1=Figart |first1=Deborah M. |last2=Lapidus |first2=June |year=1996 |title=The Impact of Comparable Worth on Earnings Inequality |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_work-and-occupations_1996-08_23_3/page/297 |journal=Work and Occupations |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=297–318 |doi=10.1177/0730888496023003004|s2cid=153936753 }}

Numerous studies indicate that the pay gap shrinks but does not disappear after controlling for occupation and a host of other human capital variables.

It has been suggested that women choose less-paying occupations because they provide flexibility to better manage work and family. Harvard economist Claudia Goldin has made this case in reviews of the literature in 2014 and 2016.{{Cite news|url=http://freakonomics.com/podcast/the-true-story-of-the-gender-pay-gap-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/|title=The True Story of the Gender Pay Gap - Freakonomics|work=Freakonomics|access-date=June 29, 2018}}{{Cite journal|last=Goldin|first=Claudia|author-link=Claudia Goldin|date=2014|title=A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-economic-review_2014-04_104_4/page/1091|journal=American Economic Review|volume=104|issue=4|pages=1091–1119|doi=10.1257/aer.104.4.1091|issn=0002-8282|citeseerx=10.1.1.708.4375|s2cid=155044380 }}

A 2009 study of high school valedictorians in the U.S. found that female valedictorians were planning to have careers that had a median salary of $74,608, whereas male valedictorians were planning to have careers with a median salary of $97,734. As to why the females were less likely than the males to choose high paying careers such as surgeon and engineer, the New York Times article quoted the researcher as saying, "The typical reason is that they are worried about combining family and career one day in the future."{{cite web |first1=Jacques |last1=Steinberg |url=http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/valedictorians/ |title=Do the Ambitions of High School Valedictorians Differ by Gender? |work=New York Times |date=June 1, 2009}}

However, studies in 1990 by Jerry A. Jacobs and Ronnie Steinberg, as well as Jennifer Glass separately, found that male-dominated jobs actually have more flexibility and autonomy than female-dominated jobs, thus allowing a person, for example, to more easily leave work to tend to a sick child.{{cite journal |last1=Glass |first1=Jennifer |year=1990 |title=The Impact of Occupational Segregation on Working Conditions |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_social-forces_1990-03_68_3/page/779 |journal=Social Forces |volume=68 |issue=3 |pages=779–96 |jstor=2579353 |doi=10.1093/sf/68.3.779}}{{cite journal |last1=Jacobs |first1=Jerry A. |last2=Steinberg |first2=Ronnie J. |year=1990 |title=Compensating Differentials and the Male-Female Wage Gap: Evidence from the New York State Comparable Worth Study |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_social-forces_1990-12_69_2/page/439 |journal=Social Forces |volume=69 |issue=2 |pages=439–68 |jstor=2579667 |doi=10.1093/sf/69.2.439}} Similarly, Heather Boushey stated that men actually have more access to workplace flexibility and that it is a "myth that women choose less-paying occupations because they provide flexibility to better manage work and family."{{cite web|publisher=Center for Economic and Policy Research |url=http://www.cepr.net/index.php/strengthening-the-middle-class-ensuring-equal-pay-for-women-testimony/ |title=Strengthening the Middle Class: Ensuring Equal Pay for Women |last=Boushey |first=Heather |date=April 24, 2007 |access-date=March 26, 2015 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320025328/http://www.cepr.net/index.php/strengthening-the-middle-class-ensuring-equal-pay-for-women-testimony/|archive-date=March 20, 2012 }}

Based on data from the 1980s, economists Blau and Kahn and Wood et al. separately argue that "free choice" factors, while significant, have been shown in studies to leave large portions of the gender earnings gap unexplained.

Research suggests that gender stereotypes may be the driving force behind occupational segregation because they influence men and women's educational and career decisions.

Studies by Michael Conway et al., David Wagner and Joseph Berger, John Williams and Deborah Best, and Susan Fiske et al. found widely shared cultural beliefs that men are more socially valued and more competent than women at most things, as well as specific assumptions that men are better at some particular tasks (e.g., math, mechanical tasks) while women are better at others (e.g., nurturing tasks).{{cite journal |last1=Conway |first1=Michael |last2=Pizzamiglio |first2=M. Teresa |last3=Mount |first3=Lauren |year=1996 |title=Status, communality, and agency: Implications for stereotypes of gender and other groups |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_1996-07_71_1/page/25 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=71 |issue=1 |pages=25–38 |pmid=8709000 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.71.1.25}}{{cite journal |last1=Wagner |first1=David G. |last2=Berger |first2=Joseph |year=1997 |title=Gender and Interpersonal Task Behaviors: Status Expectation Accounts |journal=Sociological Perspectives |volume=40 |issue=1 |pages=1–32 |jstor=1389491 |doi=10.2307/1389491|s2cid=147319093 }}{{cite book |last1=Williams |first1=John E. |first2=Deborah L. |last2=Best |year=1990 |title=Measuring Sex Stereotypes: A Multinational Study |location=Newbury Park, CA |publisher=Sage}}{{page needed|date=October 2014}}{{cite journal |last1=Fiske |first1=Susan T. |last2=Cuddy |first2=Amy J. C. |last3=Glick |first3=Peter |last4=Xu |first4=Jun |year=2002 |title=A model of (often mixed) stereotype content: Competence and warmth respectively follow from perceived status and competition |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=82 |issue=6 |pages=878–902 |pmid=12051578 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.82.6.878|citeseerx=10.1.1.320.4001 |s2cid=17057403 }} Shelley Correll, Michael Lovaglia, Margaret Shih et al., and Claude Steele show that these gender status beliefs affect the assessments people make of their own competence at career-relevant tasks.{{cite journal |last1=Lovaglia |first1=Michael J. |last2=Lucas |first2=Jeffrey W. |last3=Houser |first3=Jeffrey A. |last4=Thye |first4=Shane R. |last5=Markovsky |first5=Barry |year=1998 |title=Status Processes and Mental Ability Test Scores |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=104 |issue=1 |pages=195–228 |doi=10.1086/210006|s2cid=54043625 |url=https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1005&context=socy_facpub }}{{cite journal |last1=Shih |first1=Margaret |last2=Pittinsky |first2=Todd L. |last3=Ambady |first3=Nalini |year=1999 |title=Stereotype Susceptibility: Identity Salience and Shifts in Quantitative Performance |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychological-science_1999-01_10_1/page/80 |journal=Psychological Science |volume=10 |pages=80–83 |doi=10.1111/1467-9280.00111|s2cid=3852881 }}{{cite journal |last1=Steele |first1=Claude M. |year=1997 |title=A threat in the air: How stereotypes shape intellectual identity and performance |journal=American Psychologist |volume=52 |issue=6 |pages=613–29 |pmid=9174398 |doi=10.1037/0003-066X.52.6.613|citeseerx=10.1.1.318.9608 |s2cid=19952 }} Correll found that specific stereotypes (e.g., women have lower mathematical ability) affect women's and men's perceptions of their abilities (e.g., in math and science) such that men assess their own task ability higher than women performing at the same level. These "biased self-assessments" shape men and women's educational and career decisions.{{cite journal |last1=Correll |first1=Shelley J. |s2cid=142863258 |year=2001 |title=Gender and the Career Choice Process: The Role of Biased Self-Assessments |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-sociology_2001-05_106_6/page/1691 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=106 |issue=6 |pages=1691–730 |doi=10.1086/321299}}{{cite journal |last1=Correll |first1=Shelley J. |year=2004 |title=Constraints into Preferences: Gender, Status, and Emerging Career Aspirations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-sociological-review_2004-02_69_1/page/93 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=93–113 |jstor=3593076 |doi=10.1177/000312240406900106|citeseerx=10.1.1.520.8370 |s2cid=8735336 }}

Similarly, the OECD states that women's labour market behaviour "is influenced by learned cultural and social values that may be thought to discriminate against women (and sometimes against men) by stereotyping certain work and life styles as 'male' or 'female'." Further, the OECD argues that women's educational choices "may be dictated, at least in part, by their expectations that [certain] types of employment opportunities are not available to them, as well as by gender stereotypes that are prevalent in society."

{{Further|Occupational sexism}}

Economist David Neumark argued that discrimination by employers tends to steer women into lower-paying occupations and men into higher-paying occupations.{{cite journal |last1=Neumark|first1=David |last2=Bank |first2=Roy J. |last3=Van Nort |first3=Kyle D. |year=1996 |title=Sex Discrimination in Restaurant Hiring: An Audit Study |journal=The Quarterly Journal of Economics |volume=111 |issue=3 |pages=915–41 |jstor=2946676 |doi=10.2307/2946676|s2cid=150106209 |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w5024.pdf }}

Several authors suggest that members of low-status groups are subject to negative stereotypes and attributes concerning their work-related competences.Fernandez, John P. Racism and sexism in corporate life. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1981, {{ISBN|978-0-669-04477-5}}.{{page needed|date=October 2014}}{{cite book |last1=O'Leary |first1=Virginia E. |last2=Ickovics |first2=Jeanette R. |chapter=Cracking the glass ceiling: overcoming isolation and alienation |editor1-first=U. |editor1-last=Sekaran |editor2-first=F. T. L. |editor2-last=Leong |title=Womanpower: Managing in times of demographic turbulence |chapter-url=https://archive.org/details/womanpowermanagi00seka |chapter-url-access=registration |location=Newbury Park, CA |publisher=Sage |year=1992 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womanpowermanagi00seka/page/7 7–30] |isbn=978-0-8039-4106-9}} Similarly, studies suggest that members of high-status groups are more likely to receive favorable evaluations about their competence, normality, and legitimacy.{{cite journal |last1=Aquino |first1=Karl |last2=Bommer |first2=William H. |year=2003 |title=Preferential Mistreatment: How Victim Status Moderates the Relationship Between Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Workplace Victimization |journal=Organization Science |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=374–85 |doi=10.1287/orsc.14.4.374.17489}}{{cite journal |last1=Giannopoulos |first1=Constantina |last2=Conway |first2=Michael |last3=Mendelson |first3=Morris |year=2005 |title=The Gender of Status: The Laypersons' Perception of Status Groups is Gender-Typed |journal=Sex Roles |volume=53 |issue=11–12 |pages=795–806 |doi=10.1007/s11199-005-8293-3|s2cid=144373141 }}Sidanius, Jim & Felicia Pratto. Social dominance: An intergroup theory of social hierarchy and oppression. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1999, {{ISBN|978-0-521-62290-5}}.{{page needed|date=October 2014}}

David R. Hekman and colleagues found that men receive significantly higher customer satisfaction scores than equally well-performing women. Customers who viewed videos featuring a female and a male actor playing the role of an employee helping a customer were 19% more satisfied with the male employee's performance and also were more satisfied with the store's cleanliness and appearance although the actors performed identically, read the same script, and were in exactly the same location with identical camera angles and lighting. In a second study, they found that male doctors were rated as more approachable and competent than equally well performing female doctors.{{cite web | title = In patient satisfaction scores, what role does bias play? | publisher = American Medical Association | url = https://www.ama-assn.org/practice-management/physician-diversity/patient-satisfaction-scores-what-role-does-bias-play | date = 18 September 2017 | access-date = 21 Sep 2020}} They interpret their findings to suggest that customer ratings tend to be inconsistent with objective indicators of performance and should not be uncritically used to determine pay and promotion opportunities. They contend that customer biases have potential adverse effects on female employees' careers.Bakalar, Nicholas. "[https://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/health/research/23perc.html?ref=science A Customer Bias in Favor of White Men.]" New York Times, June 23, 2009.Vedantam, Shankar. "[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/31/AR2009053102081.html Caveat for Employers.]" Washington Post, June 1, 2009.Jackson, Derrick. "[https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/editorials/articles/2009/07/06/subtle_and_stubborn_race_bias/ Subtle, and stubborn, race bias.]" Boston Globe, July 6, 2009.National Public Radio, [http://www.wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=754 Lake Effect] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141014013345/http://wuwm.com/programs/lake_effect/view_le.php?articleid=754 |date=October 14, 2014 }}{{cite journal |last1=Hekman |first1=David R. |last2=Aquino |first2=Karl |last3=Owens |first3=Bradley P. |last4=Mitchell |first4=Terence R. |last5=Schilpzand |first5=Pauline |last6=Leavitt |first6=Keith |s2cid=28930751 |year=2010 |title=An Examination of Whether and How Racial and Gender Biases Influence Customer Satisfaction |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_academy-of-management-journal_2010-04_53_2/page/238 |journal=Academy of Management Journal |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=238–64 |doi=10.5465/AMJ.2010.49388763}}

Similarly, a study (2000) conducted by economic experts Claudia Goldin from Harvard University and Cecilia Rouse from Princeton University shows that when evaluators of applicants could see the applicant's gender they were more likely to select men. When the applicants gender could not be observed, the number of women hired significantly increased.Weiner, Joann M. [http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/12/07/no-its-not-your-imagination-were-biased-against-women/ "No, It's Not Your Imagination; We're Biased Against Women."] Politics Daily, Retrieved on July 13, 2011.{{cite journal |last1=Goldin |first1=Claudia |last2=Rouse |first2=Cecilia |year=1997 |title=Orchestrating Impartiality: The Impact of 'Blind' Auditions on Female Musicians |journal=American Economic Review |volume=90 |issue=4 |pages=715–42 |ssrn=225685 |jstor=117305 |doi=10.3386/w5903|doi-access=free }} David Neumark, a professor of economics at the University of California, Irvine, and colleagues (1996) found statistically significant evidence of sex discrimination against women in hiring. In an audit study, matched pairs of male and female pseudo-job seekers were given identical résumés and sent to apply for jobs as waiters and waitresses at the same set of restaurants. In high priced restaurants, a female applicant's probability of getting an interview was 35 percentage points lower than a male's and her probability of getting a job offer was 40 percentage points lower. Additional evidence suggests that customer biases in favor of men partly underlie the hiring discrimination. According to Neumark, these hiring patterns appear to have implications for sex differences in earnings, as informal survey evidence indicates that earnings are higher in high-price restaurants.

A 2007 study showed a substantial bias against women with children.{{Cite journal|title=Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty?|author1=Shelley J. Correll |author2=Stephen Benard |author3=In Paik |journal= American Journal of Sociology|volume=112|issue=5date=March 2007|pages=1297–1339|publisher=The University of Chicago Press|jstor=10.1086/511799|doi=10.1086/511799 |year=2007 |s2cid=7816230 |url=http://s3.amazonaws.com/fieldexperiments-papers2/papers/00227.pdf }}

In 2006, the United States National Academy of Sciences found that women in science and engineering are hindered by bias and "outmoded institutional structures" in academia. The report Beyond Bias and Barriers says that extensive previous research showed a pattern of unconscious but pervasive bias, "arbitrary and subjective" evaluation processes and a work environment in which "anyone lacking the work and family support traditionally provided by a 'wife' is at a serious disadvantage."Dean, Cornelia. [https://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/19/science/19women.html "Bias Is Hurting Women in Science, Panel Reports."] The New York Times, September 19, 2006. Similarly, a 1999 report on faculty at MIT finds evidence of differential treatment of senior women and points out that it may encompass not simply differences in salary but also in space, awards, resources and responses to outside offers, "with women receiving less despite professional accomplishments equal to those of their male colleagues."[http://web.mit.edu/fnl/women/women.html "A Study on the Status of Women Faculty in Science at MIT."] The MIT Faculty Newsletter, Vol. XI, No. 4, March 1999.

Research finds that work by men is often subjectively seen as higher-quality than objectively equal or better work by women compared to how an actual scientific review panel measured scientific competence when deciding on research grants. The results showed that women scientists needed to be at least twice as accomplished as their male counterparts to receive equal credit{{cite journal |last1=Wennerås |first1=Christine |last2=Wold |first2=Agnes |year=1997 |title=Nepotism and sexism in peer-review |journal=Nature |volume=387 |issue=6631 |pages=341–43 |pmid=9163412 |bibcode=1997Natur.387..341W |doi=10.1038/387341a0|s2cid=522864 }} and that among grant applicants men have statistically significant greater odds of receiving grants than equally qualified women.{{cite journal |last1=Bornmann |first1=Lutz |last2=Mutz |first2=Rüdiger |last3=Daniel |first3=Hans-Dieter |year=2007 |title=Gender differences in grant peer review: A meta-analysis |journal=Journal of Informetrics |volume=1 |issue=3 |pages=226–38 |doi=10.1016/j.joi.2007.03.001|arxiv=math/0701537 |bibcode=2007math......1537B |s2cid=14457854 }} In contrast, a 2018 audit study substituted common names of black men, white men, black women and white women on grant proposals and found no evidence of bias by scientific reviewers.{{Cite journal|last=Kaiser|first=Jocelyn|date=June 8, 2018|title=No bias in NIH reviews?|journal=Science|volume=360|issue=6393|pages=1055|doi=10.1126/science.360.6393.1055|issn=0036-8075|pmid=29880666|bibcode=2018Sci...360.1055K|s2cid=47006047 }}

A 2019 study found that even when blinded to the gender of the applicant, applications written by males were more likely to be funded.{{Cite journal|last=Else|first=Holly|date=May 1, 2019|title=Male researchers' 'vague' language more likely to win grants|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01402-4|journal=Nature|doi=10.1038/d41586-019-01402-4|pmid=32350421|s2cid=188050381 }}

According to the American Association of University Professors 2018–19 faculty compensation survey, women full-time faculty were paid on average 81.6% of men and these differences are primarily due to men being in disproportionately at higher paying institutions and having higher ranks.

A study by Wendy M. Williams and Stephen J. Ceci found that female applicants were strongly favored over men in an experiment designed to assess bias in hiring for professors in biology, engineering, economics and psychology.{{cite journal|author=Wendy M. Williams|title=National hiring experiments reveal 2:1 faculty preference for women on STEM tenure track|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=112|issue=17|pages=5360–5365|doi=10.1073/pnas.1418878112|year=2015|pmid=25870272|pmc=4418903|bibcode=2015PNAS..112.5360W|doi-access=free}} However, this studies results have been met with skepticism from other researchers, since it contradicts other studies on the issue. Joan C. Williams, a distinguished professor at the University of California's Hastings College of Law, raised issues with its methodology, pointing out that the fictional female candidates it used were unusually well-qualified.{{cite news |author=Sarah Kaplan |date=April 14, 2015 |title=Study finds, surprisingly, that women are favored for jobs in STEM |newspaper=Washington Post |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2015/04/14/study-finds-surprisingly-that-women-are-favored-for-jobs-in-stem/ |access-date=June 14, 2015}} In contrast, Ernesto Reuben, an assistant professor of management at Columbia University said Williams' and Ceci's study is methodologically sound and Wendy Williams noted that faculty short lists are always made up of superb candidates.{{Cite web |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2015/04/14/study-suggests-stem-faculty-hiring-favors-women-over-men|title=Study suggests STEM faculty hiring favors women over men|website=www.insidehighered.com|access-date=September 29, 2019}} A different study in 2012 found subtle biases in favor of the hypothetical male candidate when both candidates were undergraduates applying for a paid lab manager position. Both male and female faculty favored the male candidate to a similar degree.{{Cite journal |last1=Moss-Racusin |first1=Corinne A. |author2-link=John Dovidio |last2=Dovidio |first2=John F. |last3=Brescoll |first3=Victoria L. |last4=Graham |first4=Mark J. |last5=Handelsman |first5=Jo |date=2012-10-09 |title=Science faculty's subtle gender biases favor male students |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |language=en |volume=109 |issue=41 |pages=16474–16479 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1211286109 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=3478626 |pmid=22988126|bibcode=2012PNAS..10916474M }}

Research on competence judgments has shown a pervasive tendency to devalue women's work and, in particular, prejudice against women in male-dominated roles which are presumably incongruent for women.{{cite journal |last1=Eagly |first1=Alice H. |last2=Makhijani |first2=Mona G. |last3=Klonsky |first3=Bruce G. |year=1992 |title=Gender and the evaluation of leaders: A meta-analysis |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychological-bulletin_1992-01_111_1/page/3 |journal=Psychological Bulletin |volume=111 |issue=1 |pages=3–22 |doi=10.1037/0033-2909.111.1.3|s2cid=53330130 }} Organizational research that investigates biases in perceptions of equivalent male and female competence has confirmed that women who enter high-status, male-dominated work settings often are evaluated more harshly and met with more hostility than equally qualified men.Collinson, David, David Knights, and Margaret Collinson. Managing to discriminate. London; New York: Routledge, 1990, {{ISBN|978-0-415-01817-3}}.{{page needed|date=October 2014}}{{cite journal |last1=Heilman |first1=Madeline E. |year=2001 |title=Description and Prescription: How Gender Stereotypes Prevent Women's Ascent Up the Organizational Ladder |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_winter-2001_57_4/page/657 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=657–74 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00234|s2cid=144504496 }} The "think manager – think male" phenomenon{{cite journal |last1=Schein |first1=Virginia E. |year=2001 |title=A Global Look at Psychological Barriers to Women's Progress in Management |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_winter-2001_57_4/page/675 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=675–88 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00235}} reflects gender stereotypes and status beliefs that associate greater status worthiness and competence with men than women.{{cite journal |last1=Ridgeway |first1=Cecilia L. |author-link=Cecilia L. Ridgeway |year=2001 |title=Gender, Status, and Leadership |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_winter-2001_57_4/page/637 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=637–55 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00233}} Gender status beliefs shape men's and women's assertiveness, the attention and evaluation their performances receive, and the ability attributed to them on the basis of performance. They also "evoke a gender-differentiated double standard for attributing performance to ability, which differentially biases the way men and women assess their own competence at tasks that are career relevant, controlling for actual ability."{{cite journal |last1=Correll |first1=Shelley J. |year=2004 |title=Constraints into Preferences: Gender, Status, and Emerging Career Aspirations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-sociological-review_2004-02_69_1/page/93 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=69 |issue=1 |pages=93–113 |jstor=3593076 |doi=10.1177/000312240406900106|citeseerx=10.1.1.520.8370 |s2cid=8735336 }}

Alice H. Eagly and Steven J. Karau (2002) argue that "perceived incongruity between the female gender role and leadership roles leads to two forms of prejudice: (a) perceiving women less favorably than men as potential occupants of leadership roles and (b) evaluating behavior that fulfills the prescriptions of a leader role less favorably when it is enacted by a woman. One consequence is that attitudes are less positive toward female than male leaders and potential leaders. Other consequences are that it is more difficult for women to become leaders and to achieve success in leadership roles."{{cite journal |last1=Eagly |first1=Alice H. |last2=Karau |first2=Steven J. |year=2002 |title=Role congruity theory of prejudice toward female leaders |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychological-review_2002-07_109_3/page/573 |journal=Psychological Review |volume=109 |issue=3 |pages=573–98 |pmid=12088246 |doi=10.1037/0033-295X.109.3.573|citeseerx=10.1.1.460.315 |s2cid=1283792 }} Moreover, research suggests that when women are acknowledged to have been successful, they are less liked and more personally derogated than equivalently successful men.{{cite journal |last1=Heilman |first1=Madeline E. |last2=Wallen |first2=Aaron S. |last3=Fuchs |first3=Daniella |last4=Tamkins |first4=Melinda M. |title=Penalties for Success: Reactions to Women Who Succeed at Male Gender-Typed Tasks |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-applied-psychology_2004-06_89_3/page/416 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=89 |issue=3 |pages=416–27 |year=2004 |pmid=15161402 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.89.3.416}} Assertive women who display masculine, agentic traits are viewed as violating prescriptions of feminine niceness and are penalized for violating the status order.{{cite journal |last1=Rudman |first1=Laurie A. |last2=Glick |first2=Peter |year=2001|title=Prescriptive Gender Stereotypes and Backlash Toward Agentic Women |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_winter-2001_57_4/page/743 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=743–62 |doi=10.1111/0022-4537.00239|hdl=2027.42/146421 |s2cid=54219902 |hdl-access=free }}

However, a 2018 study analyzing the pay gap of Uber drivers showed the existence of a 7% gender disparity in hourly wages in a context where gender discrimination was impossible at the employer level (contracts and algorithms were gender blind) and where there was no evidence of discrimination at the rider level.

{{Further|Parental leave}}

The economic risk and resulting costs of a woman possibly leaving jobs for a period of time or indefinitely to nurse a baby is cited by many to be a reason why women are less common in the higher paying occupations such as CEO positions and upper management.{{Citation needed|date=June 2010}} It is much easier for a man to be hired in these higher prestige jobs than to risk losing a female job holder. In a survey conducted of about 500 managers in the Slater &Gordon law firm, more than 40% of the managers agreed they generally hesitate to hire woman who fall in the age group of potentially bearing children or woman who already have children.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/aug/12/managers-avoid-hiring-younger-women-maternity-leave|title=40% of managers avoid hiring younger women to get around maternity leave|agency=Press Association|date=August 11, 2014|newspaper=the Guardian|access-date=March 16, 2018}} Thomas Sowell argued in his 1984 book Civil Rights that most of pay gap is based on marital status, not a "glass ceiling" discrimination. Earnings for men and women of the same basic description (education, jobs, hours worked, marital status) were essentially equal. That result would not be predicted under explanatory theories of "sexism".Sowell, Thomas, "Civil Rights: Rhetoric or Reality", 1984 (see Chapter 5, "The Special Case of Women") and "Markets and Minorities", 1981.{{page needed|date=October 2014}} However, it can be seen as a symptom of the unequal contributions made by each partner to child raising. Cathy Young cites men's and fathers' rights activists who contend that women do not allow men to take on paternal and domestic responsibilities.[http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2000/06/12/gatekeeping/index.html?sid=818130 The mama lion at the gate – Salon.com] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201000705/http://dir.salon.com/story/mwt/feature/2000/06/12/gatekeeping/index.html?sid=818130 |date=December 1, 2008 }}{{full citation needed|date=October 2014}}

Many Western countries have some form of paternity leave to attempt to level the playing field in this regard. However, even in relatively gender-equal countries like Sweden, where parents are given 16 months of paid parental leave irrespective of gender, fathers take on average only 20% of the 16 months of paid parental and choose to transfer their days to their partner.{{cite news |url=http://www.thelocal.se/10420/20080312/ |title=Swedish dads steer clear of paternity leave |newspaper=The Local Sweden |date=12 March 2008}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.framtidsstudier.se/filebank/files/20051201$134956$fil$U8YIJLRAaC7u4FV7gUmy.pdf |title=Swedish parental leave and gender equality: Achievements and reform challenges in a European perspective |journal=Arbetsrapport/Institutet för Framtidsstudier; 2005:11 |year=2006 |issn=1652-120X |isbn=91-89655-69-9 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060522134045/http://www.framtidsstudier.se/filebank/files/20051201$134956$fil$U8YIJLRAaC7u4FV7gUmy.pdf |archive-date=22 May 2006}} In addition to maternity leave, Walter Block and Walter E. Williams have argued that marriage in and of itself, not maternity leave, in general will leave females with more household labor than the males.{{Citation needed|date=July 2010}} The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that married women earn 75.5% as much as married men while women who have never married earn 94.2% of their unmarried male counterparts' earnings.Wolgemuth, Liz. [https://www.usnews.com/blogs/the-inside-job/2009/07/31/young-women-closing-in-on-gender-wage-gap.html "Young Women Closing in on Gender Wage Parity."] USNews.com July 31, 2009.

One study estimated that 10% of the convergence of the gender gap in the 1980s and 30% in the 1990s can be accounted for by the increasing availability of contraceptives.{{cite journal |last1=Bailey |first1=Martha J. |last2=Hershbein |first2=Brad |last3=Miller |first3=Amalia R. |year=2012 |title=The Opt-In Revolution? Contraception and the Gender Gap in Wages |journal=American Economic Journal: Applied Economics |volume=4 |issue=3 |pages=225–54 |pmid=23785566 |pmc=3684076 |ssrn=2027804 |doi=10.1257/app.4.3.225}}

{{Main|Motherhood penalty}}

Several studies found a significant motherhood penalty on wages and evaluations of workplace performance and competence even after statistically controlling for education, work experience, race, whether an individual works full- or part-time, and a broad range of other human capital and occupational variables.{{cite journal |first1=Michelle J. |last1=Budig |first2=Paula |last2=England |date=April 2001 |title=The Wage Penalty for Motherhood |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-sociological-review_2001-04_66_2/page/204 |journal=American Sociological Review |volume=66 |issue=2 |pages=204–25 |doi=10.2307/2657415 |jstor=2657415|citeseerx=10.1.1.512.8060 }}{{cite journal |first1=Deborah J. |last1=Anderson |first2=Melissa |last2=Binder |first3=Kate |last3=Krause |date=January 2003 |title=The Motherhood Wage Penalty Revisited: Experience, Heterogeneity, Work Effort, and Work-Schedule Flexibility |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_industrial-labor-relations-review_2003-01_56_2/page/273 |journal=Industrial and Labor Relations Review |volume=56 |issue=2 |pages=273–94 |jstor=3590938 |ssrn=258750 |doi=10.2307/3590938}}{{cite journal |last1=Avellar |first1=Sarah |last2=Smock |first2=Pamela J.|author2-link=Pamela Smock |year=2003 |title=Has the Price of Motherhood Declined over Time? A Cross-Cohort Comparison of the Motherhood Wage Penalty |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-marriage-and-family_2003-08_65_3/page/597 |journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=597–607 |jstor=3600026 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00597.x|hdl=2027.42/73089 |citeseerx=10.1.1.1026.4335 }} The OECD confirmed the existing literature, in which "a significant impact of children on women's pay is generally found in the United Kingdom and the United States." However, one study found a wage premium for women with very young children.{{cite journal |last1=Lincoln |first1=Anne E. |year=2008 |title=Gender, Productivity, and the Marital Wage Premium |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-marriage-and-family_2008-08_70_3/page/806 |journal=Journal of Marriage and Family |volume=70 |issue=3 |pages=806–14 |jstor=40056369 |doi=10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00523.x}}

Stanford University professor Shelley Correll and colleagues (2007) sent out more than 1,200 fictitious résumés to employers in a large Northeastern city, and found that female applicants with children were significantly less likely to get hired and if hired would be paid a lower salary than male applicants with children. This despite the fact that the qualification, workplace performances and other relevant characteristics of the fictitious job applicants were held constant and only their parental status varied. Mothers were penalized on a host of measures, including perceived competence and recommended starting salary. Men were not penalized for, and sometimes benefited from, being a parent. In a subsequent audit study, Correll et al. found that actual employers discriminate against mothers when making evaluations that affect hiring, promotion, and salary decisions, but not against fathers.Folbre, Nancy. [https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/03/26/family-responsibility-discrimination-would-ayn-like-fred/ "The Anti-Mommy Bias."] New York Times, March 26, 2009.Goodman, Ellen. [https://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2007/05/11/a_third_gender_in_the_workplace/ "A third gender in the workplace."] Boston Globe, May 11, 2007.Cahn, Naomi and June Carbone. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052802268.html "Five myths about working mothers."] The Washington Post, May 30, 2010.Young, Lauren. [http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2009/06/the_motherhood.html "The Motherhood Penalty: Working Moms Face Pay Gap Vs. Childless Peers."] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110815054907/http://www.businessweek.com/careers/workingparents/blog/archives/2009/06/the_motherhood.html |date=August 15, 2011 }} Bloomsberg Businessweek, June 5, 2009.{{cite journal |last1=Correll |first1=Shelley J. |last2=Benard |first2=Stephen |last3=Paik |first3=In |title=Getting a Job: Is There a Motherhood Penalty? |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_american-journal-of-sociology_2007-03_112_5/page/1297 |journal=American Journal of Sociology |volume=112 |issue=5 |pages=1297–339 |year=2007 |doi=10.1086/511799 |citeseerx=10.1.1.709.8363 |s2cid=7816230}}

• {{cite web |date=August 4, 2005 |title=Mothers face disadvantages in getting hired, study shows |website=Psych Central |url=http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2005-08/cuns-mfd080405.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141015081815/http://psychcentral.com/news/archives/2005-08/cuns-mfd080405.html |archive-date=2014-10-15}} The researchers review results from other studies and argue that the motherhood role exists in tension with the cultural understandings of the "ideal worker" role and this leads evaluators to expect mothers to be less competent and less committed to their job.Blair-Loy, Mary. [https://books.google.com/books?id=JkXlQBWTNygC&pg=PA1 Competing devotions: Career and family among women executives.] Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2003, {{ISBN|978-0-674-01089-5}}.{{page needed|date=October 2014}}{{cite journal |last1=Ridgeway |first1=Cecilia L. |last2=Correll |first2=Shelley J. |s2cid=8797797 |year=2004 |title=Unpacking the Gender System: A Theoretical Perspective on Gender Beliefs and Social Relations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_gender-society_2004-08_18_4/page/510 |journal=Gender & Society |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=510–31 |doi=10.1177/0891243204265269}} Fathers do not experience these types of workplace disadvantages as understandings of what it means to be a good father are not seen as incompatible with understandings of what it means to be a good worker.Townsend, Nicholas W. [https://books.google.com/books?id=Fl-GEzEvHVkC&dq=Townsend+2002&pg=PP11 The package deal: Marriage, work, and fatherhood in men's lives.] Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2002, {{ISBN|978-1-56639-957-9}}.{{page needed|date=October 2014}}

Similarly, Fuegen et al. found that when evaluators rated fictitious applicants for an attorney position, female applicants with children were held to a higher standard than female applicants without children. Fathers were actually held to a significantly lower standard than male non-parents.{{cite journal |last1=Fuegen |first1=Kathleen |last2=Biernat |first2=Monica |last3=Haines |first3=Elizabeth |last4=Deaux |first4=Kay |year=2004|title=Mothers and Fathers in the Workplace: How Gender and Parental Status Influence Judgments of Job-Related Competence |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_2004_60_4/page/737 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=737–54 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00383.x|s2cid=142992355 }}

• {{cite press release |date=2005 |title=Mothers in the Workplace Held to Stricter Standards, Study Suggests |website=OSU News Research Archive |url=http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/genster.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050301200038/http://researchnews.osu.edu/archive/genster.htm |archive-date=2005-03-01}} Cuddy, Fiske, and Glick show that describing a consultant as a mother leads evaluators to rate her as less competent than when she is described as not having children.{{cite journal |last1=Cuddy |first1=Amy J. C. |last2=Fiske |first2=Susan T. |last3=Glick |first3=Peter |year=2004 |title=When Professionals Become Mothers, Warmth Doesn't Cut the Ice |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_2004_60_4/page/701 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=60 |issue=4 |pages=701–18 |doi=10.1111/j.0022-4537.2004.00381.x|citeseerx=10.1.1.460.4841 |s2cid=6371898 }}

Research has also shown there to be a "marriage premium" for men with labor economists frequently reporting that married men earn higher wages than unmarried men, and speculating that this may be attributable to one or more of the following causes: (1) more productive men marry at greater rates (attributing the marriage premium to selection bias), (2) men become more productive following marriage (possibly due to labor market specialization by men and domestic specialization by women), (3) employers favor married men, or (4) married men feel a responsibility ethic to maximize income.{{cite journal |last1=Orloff |first1=Ann |year=1996 |title=Gender in the Welfare State |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_annual-review-of-sociology_1996_22/page/51 |journal=Annual Review of Sociology |volume=22 |pages=51–78 |jstor=2083424 |doi=10.1146/annurev.soc.22.1.51}}{{cite journal |last1=Gorman |first1=Elizabeth |year=2000 |title=Marriage and money: The effect of marital status on attitudes toward pay and finances

|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_work-and-occupations_2000-02_27_1/page/64 |journal=Work and Occupations

|volume=27 |pages=64–88|doi=10.1177/0730888400027001004 |s2cid=144918094 }} see also https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/04/02/dont-be-a-bachelor-why-married-men-work-harder-and-smarter-and-make-more-money

{{Cite news |title=Don't be a bachelor: Why married men work harder, smarter and make more money |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/04/02/dont-be-a-bachelor-why-married-men-work-harder-and-smarter-and-make-more-money/ |access-date=2023-08-08 |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

Lincoln (2008) found no support for the specialization hypothesis among full-time employed workers. One study found that among identical twins with one married and the other single, average wage increased 26%.{{cite journal |last1= Antonovics |first1= Kate |last2= Town|first2=Robert|year=2004 |title=Are all the good men married? Uncovering the sources of the marital wage premium|journal=American Economic Review |volume=94 |issue= 2 |pages=317–321|doi= 10.1257/0002828041301876 |s2cid= 16100427 |url= https://repository.upenn.edu/hcmg_papers/71 }}

Some studies have suggested this premium is pronounced in the working lives of men after becoming fathers. The "fatherhood premium" is the increase in pay specifically after men becoming fathers. Fathers can expect their salaries to be boosted by 4 to 7% beyond that of their childless male counterparts.{{Cite journal|last1=Hodges|first1=Melissa J.|last2=Budig|first2=Michelle J.|date=December 2010|title=Who Gets the Daddy Bonus?|journal=Gender & Society|volume=24|issue=6|pages=717–745|doi=10.1177/0891243210386729|s2cid=145228347|issn=0891-2432}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lundberg|first1=Shelly|last2=Rose|first2=Elaina|date=November 1, 2000|title=Parenthood and the earnings of married men and women|journal=Labour Economics|volume=7|issue=6|pages=689–710|doi=10.1016/S0927-5371(00)00020-8|issn=0927-5371}} The fatherhood premium varies by race, as white father receive larger dividends than do fathers of color.{{Cite journal|last=Glauber|first=Rebecca|date=February 2008|title=Race and Gender in Families and at Work: The Fatherhood Wage Premium|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_gender-society_2008-02_22_1/page/8|journal=Gender & Society|volume=22|issue=1|pages=8–30|doi=10.1177/0891243207311593|s2cid=154859578|issn=0891-2432}} Some studies have suggested this premium is greater for men with children while others have shown fatherhood to have no effect on wages one way or the other.{{cite journal |first1=Joni |last1=Hersch |first2=Leslie S. |last2=Stratton |date=October 2000 |title=Household Specialization and the Male Marriage Wage Premium |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_industrial-labor-relations-review_2000-10_54_1/page/78 |journal=Industrial and Labor Relations Review |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=78–94 |jstor=2696033 |ssrn=241067 |doi=10.2307/2696033|hdl=1803/6915 |hdl-access=free }}{{cite journal |first1=Eng Seng |last1=Loh |date=Summer 1996 |title=Productivity Differences and the Marriage Wage Premium for White Males |journal=The Journal of Human Resources |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=566–89 |jstor=146266 |ssrn=3295 |doi=10.2307/146266}}{{cite journal |first1=Sanders |last1=Korenman |first2=David |last2=Neumark |date=Spring 1991 |title=Does Marriage Really Make Men More Productive? |journal=The Journal of Human Resources |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=282–307 |jstor=145924 |doi=10.2307/145924}}{{cite journal |first1=Martha S. |last1=Hill |date=Autumn 1979 |title=The Wage Effects of Marital Status and Children |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-human-resources_fall-1979_14_4/page/579 |journal=The Journal of Human Resources |volume=14 |issue=4 |pages=579–94 |jstor=145325 |doi=10.2307/145325}} Boosts to fathers' salaries and decreases in mothers' are the result of two intersecting factors. First, parenthood allows and/or prompts men to invest more time in work, while women are prompted to invest less. Second, employers' beliefs of the productivity and worth of employees are influenced by gender, as fathers are seen as more productive, while mothers are viewed as less committed to work and thus less valuable.{{Cite journal|last=Coltrane|first=Scott|date=November 2004|title=Elite Careers and Family Commitment: It's (Still) about Gender|journal=The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|volume=596|issue=1|pages=214–220|doi=10.1177/0002716204268776|s2cid=144557558|issn=0002-7162}}{{Cite book|title=Gender|last=Wade, Lisa (Professor)|others=Ferree, Myra Marx|isbn=978-0-393-66796-7|edition=Second|location=New York|oclc=1050142539|year = 2019}}

File:Jennifer Siebel Newsom talks about AB467.ogg talking about AB467, a law passed in 2019 that requires equal pay for women and men at sports competitions.]]

According to Serge Desmarais and James Curtis, the "gender gap in pay …is related to gender differences in perceptions of pay entitlement."{{cite journal |last1=Desmarais |first1=Serge |last2=Curtis |first2=James |year=1997 |title=Gender differences in pay histories and views on pay entitlement among university students |journal=Sex Roles |volume=37 |issue=9–10 |pages=623–42 |doi=10.1007/BF02936332|s2cid=143789948 }} Similarly, Major et al. argue that gender differences in pay expectations play a role in perpetuating non-performance related pay differences between women and men.{{cite journal |last1=Major |first1=Brenda |last2=Vanderslice |first2=Virginia |last3=McFarlin |first3=Dean B. |year=1984 |title=Effects of Pay Expected on Pay Received: The Confirmatory Nature of Initial Expectations |journal=Journal of Applied Social Psychology |volume=14 |issue=5 |pages=399–412 |doi=10.1111/j.1559-1816.1984.tb02247.x}}

Perceptions of wage entitlement differ between women and men such that men are more likely to feel worthy of higher pay{{cite journal |last1=Pelham |first1=Brett W. |last2=Hetts |first2=John J. |year=2001 |title=Underworked and Overpaid: Elevated Entitlement in Men's Self-Pay |journal=Journal of Experimental Social Psychology |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=93–103 |doi=10.1006/jesp.2000.1429}}{{cite journal |last1=Kaman |first1=Vicki S. |last2=Hartel |first2=Charmine E. J. |year=1994 |title=Gender differences in anticipated pay negotiation strategies and outcomes |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-business-and-psychology_winter-1994_9_2/page/183 |journal=Journal of Business and Psychology |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=183–97 |doi=10.1007/BF02230636|s2cid=143532061 }}{{cite journal |last1=Callahan-Levy |first1=Charlene M. |last2=Messé |first2=Lawrence A. |year=1979 |title=Sex differences in the allocation of pay |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_1979-03_37_3/page/433 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=433–46 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.37.3.433}}{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Linda A. |year=1989 |title=Relative Deprivation and the Gender Wage Gap |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-social-issues_winter-1989_45_4/page/117 |journal=Journal of Social Issues |volume=45 |issue=4 |pages=117–34 |doi=10.1111/j.1540-4560.1989.tb02363.x}}{{cite journal |last1=Jackson |first1=Linda A. |last2=Gardner |first2=Philip D. |last3=Sullivan |first3=Linda A. |year=1992 |title=Explaining gender differences in self-pay expectations: Social comparison standards and perceptions of fair pay |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-applied-psychology_1992-10_77_5/page/651 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=77 |issue=5 |pages=651–63 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.77.5.651}}{{cite journal |last1=Jost |first1=John T. |year=1997 |title=An Experimental Replication of the Depressed-Entitlement Effect Among Women |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychology-of-women-quarterly_1997-09_21_3/page/387 |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=387–93 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-6402.1997.tb00120.x|s2cid=144555414 }}{{cite journal |last1=Moore |first1=Dahlia |date=December 1994 |title=Entitlement as an epistemic problem: Do women think like men? |journal=Journal of Social Behavior & Personality |volume=9 |issue=4 |pages=665–84 |url=http://psycnet.apa.org/psycinfo/1995-25047-001}} while women's sense of wage entitlement is depressed.{{cite book |

last1=Major |

first1=Brenda |

title=Advances in Experimental Social Psychology Volume 26 |

year=1994 |

chapter=From Social Inequality to Personal Entitlement: The Role of Social Comparisons, Legitimacy Appraisals, and Group Membership |

editor1-first=James M. |

editor1-last=Olson |

editor2-first=Mark P. |

editor2-last=Zanna |

volume=26 |

pages=293–355 |

doi=10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60156-2 |

isbn=978-0-12-015226-1

}}{{cite journal |last1=Major |first1=Brenda |last2=McFarlin |first2=Dean B. |last3=Gagnon |first3=Diana |year=1984 |title=Overworked and underpaid: On the nature of gender differences in personal entitlement |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_1984-12_47_6/page/1399 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=1399–412 |pmid=6527220 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.47.6.1399}} Women's beliefs about their relatively lower worth and their depressed wage entitlement reflects their lower social status such that when women's status is raised, their wage entitlement raises as well.{{cite journal |last1=Hogue |first1=Mary |last2=Yoder |first2=Janice D. |year=2003 |title=The Role of Status in Producing Depressed Entitlement in Women's and Men's Pay Allocations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychology-of-women-quarterly_2003-12_27_4/page/330 |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=27 |issue=4 |pages=330–37 |doi=10.1111/1471-6402.00113|s2cid=144161408 }} However, gender-related status manipulation has no impact on men's elevated wage entitlement. Even when men's status is lowered on a specific task (e.g., by telling them that women typically outperform men on this task), men do not reduce their self-pay and respond with elevated projections of their own competence.{{cite journal |last1=Hogue |first1=Mary |last2=Yoder |first2=Janice D. |last3=Singleton |first3=Steven B. |year=2007 |title=The Gender Wage Gap: An Explanation of Men's Elevated Wage Entitlement |journal=Sex Roles |volume=56 |issue=9–10 |pages=573–79 |doi=10.1007/s11199-007-9199-z|s2cid=143503644 }} The usual pattern whereby men assign themselves more pay than women for comparable work might explain why men tend to initiate negotiations more than women.{{cite journal |last1=Barron |first1=Lisa A. |year=2003 |title=Ask and you shall Receive? Gender Differences in Negotiators' Beliefs about Requests for a Higher Salary |journal=Human Relations |volume=56 |issue=6 |pages=635–62 |doi=10.1177/00187267030566001|s2cid=145557624 }}

In a study by psychologist Melissa Williams et al., published in 2010, study participants were given pairs of male and female first names, and asked to estimate their salaries. Men and to a lesser degree women estimated significantly higher salaries for men than women, replicating a similar but more general finding in adolescents.{{cite journal |last1=Morrison |first1=Todd G. |last2=Bell |first2=Elayne M. |last3=Morrison |first3=Melanie A. |last4=Murray |first4=Charles A. |last5=O'Connor |first5=Wendy |year=1994 |title=An Examination of Adolescents' Salary Expectations and Gender-Based Occupational Stereotyping |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_youth-and-society_1994-12_26_2/page/178 |journal=Youth & Society |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=178–93 |doi=10.1177/0044118X94026002002|s2cid=145722144 }} In a subsequent study, participants were placed in the role of employer and were asked to judge what newly hired men and women deserve to earn. The researchers found that men and to a lesser extent women assign higher salaries to men than women based on automatic stereotypic associations. The researchers argue that observations of men as higher earners than women has led to a stereotype that associates men (more than women) with wealth, and that this stereotype itself may serve to perpetuate the wage gap at both conscious and nonconscious levels. For example, a male-wealth stereotype may influence an employer's initial salary offer to a male job candidate, or a female college graduate's intuitive sense about what salary she can appropriately ask for at her first job.{{cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Melissa J. |last2=Paluck |first2=Elizabeth Levy |last3=Spencer-Rodgers |first3=Julie |year=2010 |title=The Masculinity of Money: Automatic Stereotypes Predict Gender Differences in Estimated Salaries |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychology-of-women-quarterly_2010-03_34_1/page/7 |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly |volume=34 |pages=7–20 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-6402.2009.01537.x|s2cid=15892794 }}

File:Brandi Chastain speaking about equal pay as part of the California For All campaign.ogg talking about the importance of equal pay regarding the U.S. women's national soccer team pay discrimination claim in 2019.]]

Some studies of simulated salary negotiations have found that men on average negotiated more aggressively than women.{{cite journal |title=Gender differences in the acquisition of salary negotiation skills: The role of goals, self-efficacy, and perceived control |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-applied-psychology_1993-10_78_5/page/723 |last1=Stevens |first1=Cynthia K. |last2=Bavetta |first2=Anna G. |last3=Gist |first3=Marilyn E. |year=1993 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=78 |issue=5 |pages=723–35 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.78.5.723 |pmid=8253630}}{{cite journal |title=Gender differences in anticipated pay negotiation strategies and outcomes |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-business-and-psychology_winter-1994_9_2/page/183 |last1=Kaman |first1=Vicki S. |last2=Hartel |first2=Charmine E. J. |year=1994 |journal=Journal of Business and Psychology |volume=9 |pages=183–97 |doi=10.1007/BF02230636 |issue=2|s2cid=143532061 }} Other studies, however, have found no gender difference in pay negotiations.{{cite journal |title=The success rate of personal salary negotiations: A further investigation of academic pay differentials by sex |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_research-in-higher-education_1982_16_2/page/139 |last1=Riemer |first1=Cynthia |last2=Quarles |first2=Dan R. |last3=Temple |first3=Charles M. |year=1982 |journal=Research in Higher Education |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=139–54 |doi=10.1007/BF00973506|s2cid=143687644 }} A 1991 study investigating the salary negotiating behaviors and starting salary outcomes of graduating MBA students and found that women did not negotiate less than men, but women did obtain lower monetary returns from negotiation—which could have large impacts over the course of a career.{{cite journal |title=Determinants and consequences of salary negotiations by male and female MBA graduates |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-applied-psychology_1991-04_76_2/page/256 |last1=Gerhart |first1=Barry |last2=Rynes |first2=Sara |year=1991 |journal=Journal of Applied Psychology |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=256–62 |doi=10.1037/0021-9010.76.2.256}}

Situational factors which are assumed to influence salary negotiation include:

• Knowledge of the competitive rate of pay for a task.{{cite journal |title=Overworked and underpaid: On the nature of gender differences in personal entitlement |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_1984-12_47_6/page/1399 |last1=Major |first1=Brenda |last2= McFarlin |first2=Dean B. |last3=Gagnon |first3=Diana |year=1984 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=47 |issue=6 |pages=1399–412 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.47.6.1399 |pmid=6527220}}{{cite journal |title=Two routes to eliminating gender differences in personal entitlement: Social comparisons and performance evaluations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_psychology-of-women-quarterly_1992-06_16_2/page/193 |last1=Bylsma |first1=Wayne H. |last2=Major |first2=Brenda |year=1992 |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=193–200 |doi=10.1111/j.1471-6402.1992.tb00249.x |journal=Psychology of Women Quarterly|s2cid=145404822 }}
• Consciousness of gender stereotypes about negotiation.{{cite journal |title=Battle of the sexes: Stereotype confirmation and reactance in negotiations |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_2001-06_80_6/page/942 |last1=Kray |first1=Lara J. |last2=Thompson |first2=Leigh |last3=Galinsky |first3=Adam |year=2001 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=80 |issue=6 |pages=942–58 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.80.6.942 |pmid=11414376}}

Small et al. suggest that "framing situations as opportunities for negotiation is particularly intimidating to women, as this language is inconsistent with norms for politeness among low-power individuals, such as women". Their study of pay negotiations found that women were less likely than men to negotiate when the behavior was labeled as "negotiating" but equally likely when the behavior was labeled as "asking".{{cite journal |title=Who goes to the bargaining table? The influence of gender and framing on the initiation of negotiation |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-personality-and-social-psychology_2007-10_93_4/page/600 |last1=Small |first1=Deborah A. |last2=Gelfand |first2=Michele |author2-link=Michele J. Gelfand |last3=Babcock |first3=Linda |last4=Gettman |first4=Hilary |year=2007 |journal=Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |volume=93 |issue=4 |pages=600–13 |doi=10.1037/0022-3514.93.4.600 |pmid=17892334|citeseerx=10.1.1.335.3519 }}

Riley and Babcock found that women are penalized when they try to negotiate starting salaries. Male evaluators tended to rule against women who negotiated but were less likely to penalize men; female evaluators tended to penalize both men and women who negotiated, and preferred applicants who did not ask for more. The study also showed that women who applied for jobs were not as likely to be hired by male managers if they tried to ask for more money, while men who asked for a higher salary were not negatively affected.Shankar, Vedantam. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/07/29/AR2007072900827_pf.html "Salary, Gender and the Social Cost of Haggling."] The Washington Post, July 30, 2007.Clark-Flory, Tracy. [http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/2007/07/30/negotiation_gap "The costs of asking for a higher salary."] Salon, July 30, 2007.Montell, Gabriela. [http://chronicle.com/blogPost/Damned-if-They-Do/181 "Damned if They Do."] The Chronicle of Higher Education, July 31, 2007.{{cite journal |last1=Bowles |first1=Hannah Riley |last2=Babcock |first2=Linda |last3=Lai |first3=Lei |year=2007 |title=Social incentives for gender differences in the propensity to initiate negotiations: Sometimes it does hurt to ask |journal=Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes |volume=103 |issue=1 |pages=84–103 |doi=10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.09.001|s2cid=18202551 |url=http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:38437278 }}

However, a 2018 study analyzing the pay gap of Uber drivers showed that men earned 7% more than women in a context where salaries were not negotiated.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics investigated job traits that are associated with wage premiums, and stated: "The duties most highly valued by the marketplace are generally cognitive or supervisory in nature. Job attributes relating to interpersonal relationships do not seem to affect wages, nor do the attributes of physically demanding or dangerous jobs."Bureau of Labor Statistics. [http://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/1999/Oct/wk1/art02.htm Knowledge gets the biggest pay premium.] TED article, October 5, 1999. Economists Peter Dorman and Paul Hagstrom (1998) state that "The theoretical case for wage compensation for risk is plausible but hardly certain. If workers have utility functions in which the expected likelihood and cost of occupational hazards enter as arguments, if they are fully informed of risks, if firms possess sufficient information on worker expectations and preferences (directly or through revealed preferences), if safety is costly to provide and not a public good, and if risk is fully transacted in anonymous, perfectly competitive labor markets, then workers will receive wage premia that exactly offset the disutility of assuming greater risk of injury or death. Of course, none of these assumptions applies in full and if one or more of them is sufficiently at variance with the real world, actual compensation may be less than utility-offsetting, nonexistent, or even negative – a combination of low pay and poor working conditions."{{cite journal |last1=Dorman |first1=Peter |last2=Hagstrom |first2=Paul |year=1998 |title=Wage Compensation for Dangerous Work Revisited |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_industrial-labor-relations-review_1998-10_52_1/page/116 |journal=Industrial and Labor Relations Review |volume=52 |issue=1 |pages=116–35 |ssrn=100330 |jstor=2525246 |doi=10.2307/2525246}}

An October 2012 study by the American Association of University Women found that over the course of a 35-year career, an American woman with a college degree will make about $1.2 million less than a man with the same education, or a woman would earn 83 cents for every dollar a man made. The consequences of the pay gap include lower lifetime pay for women, less income for families, and higher rates of poverty across the United States.{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Jennifer |date=2016-02-24 |title=The Economic Impact of Equal Pay by State |url=https://statusofwomendata.org/featured/the-economic-impact-of-equal-pay-by-state/ |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=Women in the States |language=en-US}} If women receive more benefits equivalent to men, the poverty rate for working women would decrease. Therefore, closing the pay gap by raising women's wages would have a stimulus effect that would grow the U.S. economy by at least 3% to 4%.Christianne Corbett and Catherine Hill (October 2012) [http://www.aauw.org/GraduatetoaPayGap/upload/AAUWGraduatingtoaPayGapReport.pdf "Graduating to a Pay Gap: The Earnings of Women and Men One Year after College Graduation"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114190344/http://www.aauw.org/GraduatetoaPayGap/upload/AAUWGraduatingtoaPayGapReport.pdf |date=November 14, 2012 }} (Washington, DC: American Association of University Women) Women currently make up 70 percent of Medicaid recipients and 80 percent of welfare recipients, meaning their lower incomes make them more eligible for government and state funded programs. Increasing women's workplace participation from its present rate of 76% to 84%, as it is in Sweden, the U.S. could add 5.1 million women to the workforce, again, 3% to 4% of the size of the U.S. economy.Laura Bassett (October 24, 2012) [https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/24/gender-wage-gap-economic-stimulus_n_2007588.html "Closing The Gender Wage Gap Would Create 'Huge' Economic Stimulus, Economists Say"] Huffington Post

According to a report by the United States Congress Joint Economic Committee, the gender pay gap jeopardizes women's retirement security. Of the multiple sources of income Americans rely on later in life, many are directly linked to a worker's earnings over his or her career. According to research, women have about 30% less saved by the time they retire.{{Cite web |last=Dickler |first=Jessica |title=This is what women must do to overcome the retirement savings shortfall, says a financial pro |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2022/06/22/heres-how-women-can-overcome-the-retirement-savings-shortfall.html |access-date=2022-11-28 |website=CNBC |date=June 22, 2022 |language=en}} The Center for American Progress found that by the end of a woman's career, a full-time working woman will have lost out on $417,400 of income. Social Security benefits, based on lifetime earnings, and defined benefit pension distributions that are typically calculated using a formula based on a worker's tenure and salary during peak-earnings years. The persistent gender pay gap leaves women with less income from these sources than men. For example, older women's Social Security benefits are 71% of older men's benefits ($11,057 for women versus $15,557 for men in 2009). Incomes from public and private pensions based on women's own work were just 60% and 48% of men's pension incomes, respectively.U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee. [http://jec.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=f6fda396-2623-4e99-817e-bf9387360326 The Gender Wage Gap Jeopardizes Women's Retirement Security.] April 12, 2011.

{{citation needed span|date=September 2021|The federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal to pay women less simply based on gender. The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 made all sex discrimination in covered workplaces illegal (with exceptions), and this coverage was expanded to the basis of pregnancy by the 1978 Pregnancy Discrimination Act.}}

In 2009, President Barack Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. This law extended the statute of limitations on cases where a worker found that they were receiving discriminatory pay, allowing them to sue and receive recompense more than six months after they received the pay. This was seen as a victory for those fighting against the gender wage gap, because if a woman at the end of her career found that she had been making less money than men who were doing the same work, she now had more than six months from the date of her last pay check to file a claim and possibly receive the wages that were denied.

As of 2024, all U.S. states have anti-discrimination laws addressing gender pay inequality, but enforcement varies due to differing language. All states also adhere to the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits sex-based pay discrimination. Recently, many states have enacted stronger laws, including those promoting pay transparency and restricting wage history inquiries.“Pay Equity and State-by-State Laws.” Paycor, www.paycor.com/resource-center/articles/pay-equity-and-state-by-state-laws/

In June 2017, Governor Kate Brown signed into law the Oregon Equal Pay Act, which forbids employers from using job seekers' prior salaries in hiring decisions.{{Bluebook journal |first=|last=Note| title=Recent Legislation: Oregon Bans Employers from Asking Job Applicants About Prior Salary| volume=131| journal=Harv. L. Rev. | page=1513 |url=https://harvardlawreview.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/1513-1520_Online.pdf| year=2018}}

In Colorado, the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act took effect on January 1, 2021, with several provisions:[https://www.cobizmag.com/changes-in-colorados-employment-law-for-2021/ Changes in Colorado's employment law for 2021][https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/sb19-085 SB19-085 Equal Pay For Equal Work Act]

• Allows workers to file a civil lawsuit to enforce the law
• Has similar requirements for equal work to the federal 1963 law
• Prohibits employers from asking about or considering pay history
• Prohibits employers from preventing discussions between employees about pay
• Requires employers to advertise promotion opportunities to all employers
• Requires employers to advertise a pay range and benefits with job descriptions
• Requires employers to maintain records for use in later enforcement actions

File:Genderpaystore.jpg titled "76 is Less Than 100", which promotes awareness on the gender pay gap, operated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania during the month of April 2015.]]

To help raise awareness on the pay gap, a pop-up store named "76 is Less Than 100" operated during the month of April 2015 in the Garfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh. The nonprofit store, which sells arts and crafts designed by women, charges men full price while women get a 24% discount to reflect the pay gap between white men and women in Pennsylvania.The Economic Status of Women in Pennsylvania, statusofwomendata.org/wp-content/themes/witsfull/factsheets/economics/factsheet-pennsylvania.pdf[http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2015/04/24/discount-for-women-full-price-for-men-woman-opens-store-to-make-point-about-wage-gap/ Discount For Women, Full Price For Men: Woman Opens Store To Make Point About Wage Gap] KDKA-TV (April 24, 2015)[http://www.wpxi.com/news/news/pittsburgh-pop-shop-taking-stand-women-equal-pay-d/nktM2/ Pittsburgh pop-up shop taking a stand for women on Equal Pay Day] WPXI (April 14, 2015) The store made national headlines in the wake of Patricia Arquette referencing the pay gap at the 87th Academy Awards two months before.[https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/pittsburgh-pop-shop-charges-men-women/story?id=30612771 Pittsburgh Pop-Up Shop Charges Men More Than Women] ABC News (April 27, 2015) In November 2015 the operators opened a second iteration in New Orleans, titled "66<100" to reflect the pay gap in Louisiana.[http://www.nola.com/business/index.ssf/2015/11/new_orleans_wage_inequality_sh.html Women get a deal, men pay full price at New Orleans pop-up highlighting gender wage gap] The Times-Picayune (November 12, 2015)

Women Involved in Learning and Leadership (WILL) at UMBC have initiated a Pay Equity Bake Sale to initiate critical conversations about the gender pay gap. At the event, visitors self-identify based on a provided chart that reflects U.S. wage disparities, with baked goods priced accordingly to highlight inequities in pay. For example, individuals can see how much they would pay compared to others, reflecting the real-world wage differences tied to gender. This interactive activity encourages participants to reflect on pay equity issues. Nonetheless, the organizers acknowledge that the chart is based on a simple male-female idea of gender and doesn’t show the full picture of wage inequality, highlighting the need for more research and deeper conversations on the topic.blubbery69. “The Oscars: From Fancy Clothing to Social Change (a Reflection on Pay Equity).” Women’s Center at UMBC, 29 June 2020, womenscenteratumbc.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/the-oscars-from-fancy-clothing-to-social-change-a-reflection-on-pay-equity/.

Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, is a strong advocate of closing the gender pay gap. In her book, Lean In, she urges professional women to "lean in" to their careers, negotiate for higher salaries to decrease the pay gap, and to find supportive partners who will actively help raise children to help lessen the motherhood penalty.Sandberg, Sheryl (2013). Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. {{ISBN|0385349947}}. She is also the founder of LeanIn.Org, which has run national social media campaigns using the hashtags #BanBossy and #LeanInTogether.

Oscar-winning American actress Jennifer Lawrence has also brought international attention to the gender pay gap with an essay in fellow pay gap advocate Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter. In her essay, she addresses the fact that she was paid less than her American Hustle co-stars, which was made public by the Sony hacking scandal. She largely blamed herself for having "failed as a negotiator" and being focused on being liked. The essay highlighted that the gender pay gap exists for every industry and all across Hollywood.{{Cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2015/10/18/opinions/burns-jennifer-lawrence-women-pay/index.html|title=What Jennifer Lawrence reveals about women, equal pay|last=Burns|first=Dasha|authorlink=Dasha Burns|website=CNN|date=October 18, 2015|access-date=November 26, 2016}}

Author and advocate Christine Michel Carter has also spoke out against the gender pay gap, specifically Black Women's Equal Pay Day, stating the path to racial and gender equity in the workplace will involve “radical action.”{{Cite web |last=McGrath |first=Maggie |title=ForbesWomen Weekly: The Highest-Paid Players At The 2023 Women's World Cup. Plus: Survive Career Curveballs |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/maggiemcgrath/2023/07/27/forbeswomen-weekly-the-highest-paid-players-at-the-2023-womens-world-cup-plus-survive-career-curveballs/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=Forbes |language=en}} In her Forbes column, she addresses the fact that Black women face disproportionately high barriers in the workplace and questions the solutions recommended to close the gender pay gap.{{Cite web |last=Carter |first=Christine Michel |title=The Perplexing Problem With Black Women's Equal Pay Day |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecarter/2023/07/21/the-perplexing-problem-with-black-womens-equal-pay-day/ |access-date=2023-08-01 |website=Forbes |language=en}}

Serena Williams, a renowned tennis player, addressed the issue of gender pay disparities in a discussion with Glamour magazine, emphasizing that inequities exist even in sports. She highlighted the double standard that women face, despite putting in the same level of dedication and effort as men. Serena reflected on her own journey, noting that she has been playing tennis since the age of three, yet she and other women athletes are often paid less simply because of their gender. Elizabeth, De. “13 Celebrities Speaking out against the Gender Wage Gap.” Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, 4 Apr. 2017, www.teenvogue.com/gallery/celebrities-fought-equal-pay

Emma Watson has emerged as a significant advocate for equal pay and gender equality, leading initiatives like the UN campaign HeForShe. This campaign focuses on addressing gender inequality, particularly on college and university campuses. While presenting the initiative at the UN, Watson emphasized the importance of rethinking traditional notions of gender. She argued that gender should be understood as a range of identities instead of just two opposite categories.Elizabeth, De. “13 Celebrities Speaking out against the Gender Wage Gap.” Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, 4 Apr. 2017, www.teenvogue.com/gallery/celebrities-fought-equal-pay

• US labor law
• Equal pay for women
• Glass ceiling
• Income inequality in the United States
• Pregnancy discrimination in the United States
• Equal Pay Day
• Gender pay gap in the United States tech industry

Legislation:

• Bennett Amendment
• Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009
• Paycheck Fairness Act

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Women's rights in the United States}}

Category:Income in the United States

Category:Sexism in the United States

Category:Gender inequality in the United States

United States