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September 27, 2010

Young, Single Women Outearn Male Counterparts

Does this signal a bridge in the perennial gender pay gap?

Elrena Evans

The fact that men make more money than women isn’t exactly news. Sure, it pops up in the media from time to time as some ask what we need to do to help that statistic change, while others insist that the gap isn’t real to begin with. For the most part, though, it’s a fact that’s accepted as part of our culture: one of the many inequalities — real or imagined, positive or negative — that exist between the genders.

But when a study comes out saying that some women actually earn more than their male counterparts — as one such study did earlier this month — well, that gets people talking.

According to The Wall Street Journal, data for 2008 indicates that “single, childless women between ages 22 and 30 were earning more than their male counterparts in most U.S. cities, with incomes that were 8% greater on average.” Alas, I’m not expecting to see any corresponding jump in my own income, as I’m neither single, childless, nor under age 30, but at first glance, I’m glad to see that working women, at least of the young, unmarried variety, are making strides in closing the wage gap.

Not so fast, though, says Joanne Cleaver of BNET. As with any statistic, perhaps especially a statistic involving money, the claim is only as good as the multifaceted factors behind it. Cleaver contacted James Chung of Reach Advisors — the firm that published the statistic — and sums up what he had to say: “It’s pretty simple: more women are graduating from college than men, so more young women are qualified for higher-paying entry-level jobs. Thus, in aggregate, millennial women are earning more than millennial men as they start their careers.” (Cleaver also notes that black and Hispanic women's earnings are nearly double that of their male counterparts.)

So why are you still making less money than your equally qualified male coworkers? “This doesn’t mean that women in particular professions, industries or job categories are making more than their male peers. It also doesn’t have anything to do with what individual women make compared to their male colleagues.” Cleaver says. The statistic is merely an aggregate of all possible incomes for women and men of the target demographic in the study. When the factors contributing to the statistic are unpacked, it doesn’t look quite the same.

Cleaver points out that the study “doesn’t relate to married young women or the biggest earnings barrier of all: children.” When women with husbands and children are added to the mix, the results are a far cry from women out-earning men. According to a September 16th press release from the National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), the 2009 national poverty rate for women rose to almost 14 percent, the highest rate it’s hit in 15 years. Poverty rates for men are also on the rise, “but remain,” according to the NWLC, “substantially lower than among women.” As to who’s making how much money, the NWLC reports that “Women working full-time, year-round in 2009 were paid only 77 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts.”

Apparently, the wage gap hasn’t been closed after all. I’m thrilled to hear that young, single, childless women are doing so well, but with poverty rates in this country at 17 percent for elderly women and a staggering 38.5 percent for single mothers, I think any discussion of women and income needs to include those statistics as well.

Posted by Katelyn Beaty on September 27, 2010 11:30 AM

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