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In 2019, a poll revealed that nearly half of men believe that the wage gap is “made up.” Contrary to their beliefs, the wage gap continues to hold an iron grip on the American workforce – and it affects men too.

This is nothing new. Conflicting views around the wage gap are not uncommon, and the public’s perception of the wage gap is often clouded with misconceptions. The most prevailing, misguided narratives range from the idea that the wage gap exists because of a woman’s choice, or that the gap is caused by women not negotiating their salaries. Due to the tremendous research conducted by the 2023 Nobel Prize Winner, Claudia Goldin, we have been able to identify the main causes of the remaining wage gap.

On this Equal Pay Day, we would like to set the record straight.

The wage gap is most commonly known as the difference in pay between men and women. However, the gap is much more nuanced, and rooted in bias and discrimination. Pay differences vary further depending on one’s characteristics, such as race, gender, age, disability and education. Across all workers in the United States, including those working part-time, or part of the year, women are paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. In comparison, among those who work full-time, all year-round, women are paid 84 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. While the overall wage gap may be 78 cents for part-time workers, and 84 cents for full-time working women, it varies widely for every demographic. In 2022, white, non-Hispanic women were paid 74 cents; Black women 66 cents; Latina women 52 cents, Native American women 55 cents, and Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander women as little as 49 cents.

In short, the wage gap cannot be explained by women’s choices. Here’s why:

• Women are discouraged from taking certain career paths. From a young age, girls are led away from pursuing certain, often higher-paying fields. Gender and race stereotypes about who may be best suited to do babysitting versus home repairs, or who belongs in math or science clubs in grade school, can shape girls’ early experiences, the skills they build and the future careers they even imagine having. While training programs like registered apprenticeships are a common pathway for young men to enter higher-paying occupations like construction trades, young women are much less likely to join these programs.
• Higher-paying fields are not the answer to the wage gap. Many think that the solution to the wage gap is for women to enter higher-paying fields. Women only make up 30 percent of workers in the 20 highest-paid occupations, those working full time, year round are still typically paid less than men, and collectively lose $44.4 billion to the wage gaps in these occupations. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that when more women enter a field, the field becomes lower-paying. In contrast, when more men enter a field, the field pays more.
• Women do negotiate. A recent study shows that not only do women negotiate their salaries, they do so at a higher rate. Yet despite their initiative, women still receive lower compensation than men. An earlier study revealed that when a job description explicitly mentions that wages were negotiable, men and women were equally likely to initiate negotiations and hesitate to offer working for lower wages.
• Women are working longer hours. Today, 84 percent of employed women ages 25-54 work full time, despite the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on women’s employment. Yet, even as women’s workforce participation rises, women are still being paid less than men.
• Despite higher education, women are still paid less. Women with master’s degrees are paid just 72 cents for every dollar paid to men with master’s degrees. Further, among all workers, women with associate’s degrees are paid less than men with a high school diploma, and women with master’s degrees are paid less than men with bachelor’s degrees.

The data makes it abundantly clear that the wage gap is not about individual choices, but rather systemic bias and discrimination.

Women across the nation need stronger protections in the workplace. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was a strong start to advancing protections in the workplace by requiring that men and women earn equal pay for equal work. Coupled with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, which protects against wage discrimination based on race, color, and national origin, these laws protect more workers from discrimination in the workplace.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has been crucial in the enforcement of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. Per the charge data provided by the EEOC, over the last decade, women have filed over 20,000 wage charges based on gender, and men have filed over 2,600 wage charges on the same basis. National Partnership research shows that in the last three years, the EEOC has recovered over $1 million dollars for workers on wage discrimination claims. Should the EEOC reinstitute pay data collection, this would bolster the EEOC’s ability to enforce the law by identifying wage gaps that suggest problems within specific employers, industries, occupations or geographic areas.

Despite the current laws and the effectiveness of the EEOC, unfortunately the Equal Pay Act has loopholes that allow employers to justify pay discrimination for any factors other than sex. The Paycheck Fairness Act would eliminate these gaping loopholes and combat the wage discrimination that has plagued the nation’s workforce for decades.

Credits: Authors would like to thank Gail Zuagar, Sharita Gruberg, Anwesha Majumder, Molly Kozlowski, and Mettabel Law for their contributions.