Fact Sheets

The Wage Gap

The wage gap is a statistical calculation of the percent that women earn in comparison to men. In 2004, women, on average, earned 76% of men's earnings. That's almost a quarter less on every dollar men earn! The gap between women's and men's wages in 2004 (the most recent year with available data) showed a decrease of about 1% from the previous year. However, part of this change is due to a decrease in men's real wages. Below are figures for 2004 comparing the earnings of various demographic groups with the earnings of white men.

The 2004 Wage Gap

 Demographic Group

 Earnings **

Percentage of White Men's Earnings

 Women
      All

 $31,223

 68%

      White

 $32,486

 71%

      Hispanic 

 $23,444

 51%

      Black

 $27,730

 60%

      Asian & Pacific Islander*

 $35,975

 78%

 Men  
      All

 $40,798

 89%

      White

 $45,542

 100%

      Hispanic

 $26,679

 58%

      Black

 $31,305

 68%

      Asian & Pacific Islander*

 $45,870

 100%

* Data for Asian/Pacific Islanders and Native Americans may not be representative due to the small sample size.

** Earnings are expressed as median annual earnings of full-time wage and salary workers.

chart showing changes in the wage gap from 1970 to 2004


* Data on Hispanic and Asian/Pacific Islander women not available.

** Data on Asian/Pacific Islander women not available.

Sources: National Committee on Pay Equity and the Department of Labor Current Population Survey, Annual Demographic Survey

 

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Last updated 6/2006

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Mary Goulding
Council 40, Wisconsin

Mary Goulding

"AFSCME women are a force. We push hard for pay equity, economic security, funding for child care and on-the-job training. With our union, there is no stopping us!"