8.4a The Gender Wage Gap
Another factor influencing gender stratification at work and in the economy is the gender wage gap, which refers to the difference between men’s and women’s median earnings. (Recall from Chapter 2 that the median is the number that occurs right in the middle of a range.) A gender wage gap persists worldwide, with women’s incomes lagging those of men in all industrialized countries (see Figure 8.5).
Figure 8.5
Gender Wage Gap Globally, Percent of Median Earnings of Men, 2023
Data based on Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2023). Gender wage gap. https://data.oecd.org/earnwage/gender-wage-gap.htm. Copyright 2025 by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.
Figure 8.5 illustrates how the United States compares to nations and blocs that share similar economic characteristics (Japan and the European Union), cultural similarities (Canada and the United Kingdom), and geographic proximity (Mexico). In the United States, for every dollar men earn, women earn 83.6 cents. In contrast, the gender wage gap is even higher in Japan. Women earn 78.7 cents for each dollar that men earn in Japan (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, 2022).
The United States has made progress toward closing the wage gap, but inequity remains. For example, in 1973, women earned 57% of what men earned, which increased to 84% in 2023 (see Figure 8.6) (George & Livingston, 2024; Jones, 2021). Further, race and gender intersect. White and Asian American men and women earn higher wages than Black or Latino men and women (see Figure 8.7).
Figure 8.6
Gender Wage Gap in the United States, 1973 – 2023
Data based on Jones, J. (2021, March 19). 5 facts about the state of the gender pay gap. U.S. Department of Labor Blog. https://blog.dol.gov/2021/03/19/5-facts-about-the-state-of-the-gender-pay-gap; George, E., & Livingston, G. (2024, March 24). What you need to know about the gender wage gap. https://blog.dol.gov/2024/03/12/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-gender-wage-gap. In the public domain.
Figure 8.7
Median Weekly Earnings of Full-Time Workers by Race, Hispanic or Latino, and Sex, 2024
Note: Hispanic or Latino individuals can be of any race and are counted in the racial categories as well. Data based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2024b). Median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers by race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, and sex. https://www.bls.gov/charts/usual-weekly-earnings/usual-weekly-earnings-current-quarter-by-race-and-sex.htm. In the public domain.
The gender wage gap persists even after accounting for occupation and education. For example, teaching is a sex-segregated occupation, meaning one in which either men or women predominantly work. Nearly 80% of elementary and middle school teachers are women (U.S. Department of Labor, 2025). Sex-segregated occupations worsen the gender wage gap. For example, women teachers earn 91.5% of what men doing the same work earn (U.S. Department of Labor, 2025).
Besen-Cassino (2017) used nationally representative survey data from 8,984 youths aged 12 to 16 to investigate whether the gender wage gap exists among teenagers. All teenagers have similar levels of education, work histories, and skills, and most lack primary caregiving responsibilities. These are all factors used as explanations for the wage gap among adult men and women. Besen-Cassino (2017) found that children earn similar wages at the ages of 12 and 13. Still, boys earn about $200 more annually than girls starting at age 14. Initially, adults hire teenage boys for work like mowing yards and hire girls to do work like babysitting. Adults pay higher wages for yardwork than they do for childcare contributing to the gender wage gap among teenagers. Both are physically demanding jobs, but they pay differently due to who is doing the work.
Photo 8.11
Jobs for Teenagers are Sex-Segregated
Teenage boy mowing lawn [Photograph]. soupstock via Canva Pro.
Moreover, girls stay in these freelance jobs longer, and boys enter employee-type jobs at restaurants and retail stores sooner (Besen-Cassino, 2017). This means that boys begin earning higher wages due to a longer work history in the formal labor market compared to girls. However, girls in employee-type positions still earn less than boys.