Overview
- The national pay gap, highlighted on Thursday’s Equal Pay Day, widened for a second year, with Census data at 81 cents on the dollar and Payscale’s broader read at 82 cents, while its like-for-like comparison shows 99 cents.
- Census officials point to a simple driver in 2024: men’s median income rose 3.7% as women’s pay was flat, which pushed the overall gap wider despite similar roles paying near parity.
- Parenthood remains a key divide, with women who are parents or primary caregivers earning 74 cents for each dollar earned by fathers, while childless women earn about 90 cents on the dollar.
- Racial gaps are larger and add up over time, as Payscale estimates lifetime shortfalls of about $1.42 million for Black women and $1.39 million for Hispanic women, contributing to roughly $1.1 trillion in lost earnings each year.
- Advocates warn that weak pay-data reporting and stalled transparency laws blunt fixes as AI threatens female-heavy jobs, with ILO research finding 29% of those roles face major disruption compared with 16% in male-dominated fields.