Cornell labor economist and past LERA president and Employment Policy Research Network researcher Francine Blau talks about the past and present of women's making less money than men in an Oct. 17 Atlantic magazine Q&A, "Why Are Women Paid Less?". Here's the recent history of women's pay gap, per Blau:
"Way back in the 1950s, women earned around 60 percent on average of what men earned when working year-round full time. And it stayed right around at that level until about 1980. Then, particularly in the decade of the 80s, there was really considerable progress in narrowing the gender pay gap. Since then, there's been further progress, but it's been a little bit more fitful, a little less consistent. So in 1980, that figure was 60 percent. In 1990 it was 72 percent. In 10 years, that was quite a change. In 2000, it was 73 percent. And now it's about 77 percent. It bounces around year to year."
Blau also discusses discrimation, the impact of motherhood on women's earning capability and the 9 percent of pay difference between women's and men's pay her research can't explain.
Readers responded to the online article with many comments.
To read the complete Atlantic Q&A, click here.