INSTITUTE INDEX: The war on women's wages
Percent less women earned than men for a week of full-time work in 2011: 17.8
Percentage points that figure declined from 2010: 1
Percentage of that decline due to real wages falling further for men than women: 100
Percent by which women's real earnings fell from 2010 to 2011: 0.9
Percent by which men's real earnings fell in that period: 2.1
Median weekly earnings for women for full-time work in 2011: $684
For men: $832
Percentage-point change in the annual gender earnings gap between 1981 and 1991: -10
Between 1991 and 2000: -4
Since 2001: -1
If the change in the annual earnings ratio continues at the same pace it has since 1960, number of years it will take for men and women to reach parity: 45
Amount earned by a white woman for every $1 earned by a white man in 2011: $.82
By an African-American woman for every $1 earned by an African-American man: $.91
By an African-American woman for every dollar earned by a white man: $.69
By a Hispanic woman for every $1 earned by a Hispanic man: $.90
By a Hispanic woman for every $1 earned by a white man: $.60
Percent by which African-American women's earnings declined in 2011, the largest drop among all racial/ethnic groups: 5.8
(All numbers and the figure above are from "The Gender Wage Gap: 2011," a fact sheet by the Institute for Women's Policy Research that analyzes data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Click on graph for a larger version.)
Tags
Sue Sturgis
Sue is the former editorial director of Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies.