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Between 1979 and 2011, the earnings gap between women and men narrowed for most age groups. The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio among 25- to 34-year-olds grew from 68 percent in 1979 to 92 percent in 2011, for example, and the ratio for 45- to 54-year-olds increased from 57 percent to 76 percent.
Women's earnings as percent of men's, median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, in current dollars, by age, 1979–2011 annual averages
Year
Total, 16 years and older
16-19 years
20-24 years
25-34 years
35-44 years
45-54 years
55-64 years
65 years and older
1979
62.3
85.2
76.3
67.5
58.3
56.8
60.6
77.6
1980
64.2
89.5
78.1
69.4
58.3
56.9
59.4
76.4
1981
64.4
91.7
80.6
70.3
59.9
56.8
58.9
71.1
1982
65.7
92.9
82.4
72.1
61.1
60.1
61.4
70.3
1983
66.5
94.0
85.5
73.3
61.5
59.5
61.8
68.8
1984
67.6
93.1
85.2
74.6
62.0
59.4
61.5
66.8
1985
68.1
90.7
85.7
75.1
63.0
59.7
61.0
65.9
1986
69.5
91.4
87.5
76.1
63.9
60.9
61.2
71.5
1987
69.8
87.8
88.0
76.7
66.1
62.3
62.2
68.7
1988
70.2
89.8
90.0
77.7
68.5
61.7
62.3
70.9
1989
70.1
94.3
89.7
78.3
68.3
62.7
63.9
74.3
1990
71.9
90.8
90.3
79.3
69.6
63.8
63.7
74.4
1991
74.2
93.6
93.3
81.0
70.7
65.0
64.5
68.3
1992
75.8
94.0
94.3
82.0
71.9
65.8
64.9
77.9
1993
77.1
92.8
95.4
83.0
73.0
67.4
67.4
74.3
1994
76.4
92.5
94.5
82.9
72.6
67.1
66.0
76.2
1995
75.5
88.1
92.4
82.2
72.6
67.7
64.7
80.0
1996
75.0
88.8
92.8
83.2
73.3
68.9
65.3
70.0
1997
74.4
91.6
90.5
82.9
74.0
69.4
64.7
77.0
1998
76.3
88.6
89.4
82.9
73.6
70.5
68.1
72.6
1999
76.5
91.4
90.5
81.5
71.7
70.0
67.9
78.7
2000
76.9
92.5
92.7
82.4
71.6
73.2
69.1
75.1
2001
76.4
90.3
91.9
83.0
72.5
73.5
70.5
69.0
2002
77.9
94.6
93.9
84.5
75.2
74.6
71.6
73.8
2003
79.4
93.1
93.9
86.9
76.1
73.0
72.7
71.1
2004
80.4
92.1
93.8
87.8
75.6
72.9
73.0
74.6
2005
81.0
92.1
93.8
89.0
75.5
75.5
74.7
76.4
2006
80.8
87.6
94.9
88.2
77.2
73.5
72.9
77.5
2007
80.2
89.1
90.3
86.9
76.5
74.5
72.8
77.8
2008
79.9
87.3
92.5
88.5
74.5
74.9
75.4
74.8
2009
80.2
90.7
92.9
88.7
77.4
73.6
75.3
76.1
2010
81.2
94.6
93.8
90.8
79.9
76.5
75.2
75.7
2011
82.2
88.6
93.2
92.3
78.5
76.0
75.1
80.9
In 2011, among the age groupings of those 35 years and older, women had earnings that ranged from 75 percent to 81 percent of those of their male counterparts. Among younger workers, the earnings differences between women and men were not as large.
At each level of education, women aged 25 years and older have fared better than men with respect to long-term earnings growth. Although both women and men without a high school diploma have experienced declines in inflation-adjusted earnings since 1979, the drop for women was significantly less than that for men: a 10-percent decrease for women—as opposed to a 33-percent decline for men.
Percent change in constant-dollar median usual weekly earnings, by educational attainment and sex, 1979–2011
Educational attainment
Percent change
Men
Women
Less than a high school diploma
-33.0
-10.0
High school graduate, no college
-19.1
3.6
Some college or associate's degree
-11.7
5.7
Bachelor's degree and higher
16.3
30.8
On an inflation-adjusted basis, earnings for women with a college degree have increased by 31 percent since 1979, while those of male college graduates have risen by 16 percent.
These data are from the Current Population Survey. Earnings data in this article are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. To learn more, see "Highlights of Women's Earnings in 2011,” BLS Report 1038 (PDF).
United States Department of Labor
