July 22, 2011 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)
Women's earnings, 1979-2010
Women's earnings as percent of men's, median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, in current dollars, by age, 1979–2010 annual averages
| Year |
Age |
| 16-19 years |
20-24 years |
25-34 years |
35-44 years |
45-54 years |
55-64 years |
65 years and older |
1979 |
85.2 |
76.3 |
67.5 |
58.3 |
56.8 |
60.6 |
77.6 |
1980 |
89.5 |
78.1 |
69.4 |
58.3 |
56.9 |
59.4 |
76.4 |
1981 |
91.7 |
80.6 |
70.3 |
59.9 |
56.8 |
58.9 |
71.1 |
1982 |
92.9 |
82.4 |
72.1 |
61.1 |
60.1 |
61.4 |
70.3 |
1983 |
94.0 |
85.5 |
73.3 |
61.5 |
59.5 |
61.8 |
68.8 |
1984 |
93.1 |
85.2 |
74.6 |
62.0 |
59.4 |
61.5 |
66.8 |
1985 |
90.7 |
85.7 |
75.1 |
63.0 |
59.7 |
61.0 |
65.9 |
1986 |
91.4 |
87.5 |
76.1 |
63.9 |
60.9 |
61.2 |
71.5 |
1987 |
87.8 |
88.0 |
76.7 |
66.1 |
62.3 |
62.2 |
68.7 |
1988 |
89.8 |
90.0 |
77.7 |
68.5 |
61.7 |
62.3 |
70.9 |
1989 |
94.3 |
89.7 |
78.3 |
68.3 |
62.7 |
63.9 |
74.3 |
1990 |
90.8 |
90.3 |
79.3 |
69.6 |
63.8 |
63.7 |
74.4 |
1991 |
93.6 |
93.3 |
81.0 |
70.7 |
65.0 |
64.5 |
68.3 |
1992 |
94.0 |
94.3 |
82.0 |
71.9 |
65.8 |
64.9 |
77.9 |
1993 |
92.8 |
95.4 |
83.0 |
73.0 |
67.4 |
67.4 |
74.3 |
1994 |
92.5 |
94.5 |
82.9 |
72.6 |
67.1 |
66.0 |
76.2 |
1995 |
88.1 |
92.4 |
82.2 |
72.6 |
67.7 |
64.7 |
80.0 |
1996 |
88.8 |
92.8 |
83.2 |
73.3 |
68.9 |
65.3 |
70.0 |
1997 |
91.6 |
90.5 |
82.9 |
74.0 |
69.4 |
64.7 |
77.0 |
1998 |
88.6 |
89.4 |
82.9 |
73.6 |
70.5 |
68.1 |
72.6 |
1999 |
91.4 |
90.5 |
81.5 |
71.7 |
70.0 |
67.9 |
78.7 |
2000 |
92.5 |
92.7 |
82.4 |
71.6 |
73.2 |
69.1 |
75.1 |
2001 |
90.3 |
91.9 |
83.0 |
72.5 |
73.5 |
70.5 |
69.0 |
2002 |
94.6 |
93.9 |
84.5 |
75.2 |
74.6 |
71.6 |
73.8 |
2003 |
93.1 |
93.9 |
86.9 |
76.1 |
73.0 |
72.7 |
71.1 |
2004 |
92.1 |
93.8 |
87.8 |
75.6 |
72.9 |
73.0 |
74.6 |
2005 |
92.1 |
93.8 |
89.0 |
75.5 |
75.5 |
74.7 |
76.4 |
2006 |
87.6 |
94.9 |
88.2 |
77.2 |
73.5 |
72.9 |
77.5 |
2007 |
89.1 |
90.3 |
86.9 |
76.5 |
74.5 |
72.8 |
77.8 |
2008 |
87.3 |
92.5 |
88.5 |
74.5 |
74.9 |
75.4 |
74.8 |
2009 |
90.7 |
92.9 |
88.7 |
77.4 |
73.6 |
75.3 |
76.1 |
2010 |
94.6 |
93.8 |
90.8 |
79.9 |
76.5 |
75.2 |
75.7 |
These data are featured in the TED article, Women's earnings, 1979-2010.
Percent change of constant-dollar median usual weekly earnings, by educational attainment and sex, 1979–2010
| Educational attainment |
Percent change |
| Men |
Women |
Less than a high school diploma |
-31.2 |
-8.9 |
High school graduate, no college |
-17.7 |
4.8 |
Some college or associate's degree |
-8.4 |
8.0 |
Bachelor's degree and higher |
19.9 |
33.4 |
These data are featured in the TED article, Women's earnings, 1979-2010.
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