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The Earnings Gap Between Women and Men U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Secretary Women's Bureau 1979 Material contained in this publication is in the public domain and may be reproduced, fully or partially, without permission of the Federal Government. Source credit is requested but not required. Permission is required only to reproduce any copyrighted material contained herein. The Earnings Gap Between Women and Men U.S. Department of Labor Ray Marshall, Secretary Women's Bureau Alexis M. Herman, Director 1979 For sale b y the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Washington, D . C . 2O402 Stock Number 020-016-00060-7 CONTENTS Page Introduction . . . 1 Occupation, Industry, and Class of Worker 2 Educational Attainment 3 Work Experience 4 Overtime Work 4 Earnings Differentials 4 Age Race Marital Status Regions 4 5 5 5 Tables: 1. Comparison of Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, 1955-1977 6 Earnings Distribution of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, 1977 7 3. Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Civilian Workers, by Occupation Group and Sex, 1977 8 2. 4. Annual Salaries of Scientists and Engineers, by Field and Sex, 1976 5. 6. Women With Earnings Ranking in the Top Half of All Earners, by Occupation, 1973 and 1977 11 Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Industry and Occupation, 1977 12 7. Median Earnings in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Civilian Workers, by Class and Occupation, Sex, Race, and Spanish Origin 8. 9. 10 14 Comparison of Median Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Educational Attainment and Sex, 1977 15 Median Educational Attainment of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex and Income, 1977 16 10. Average Annual Salary Offers, Bachelor Degree Candidates, by Curriculum and Sex, 1976 17 11. Weekly Earnings of Overtime Workers Receiving Premium Pay, by Sex, May 1977 18 12. Annual Medium Income in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Age and Sex 19 13. 14. Median Wage or Salary Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Race and Sex, 1977 20 Median Income in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, Age, Marital Status, Race, and Spanish Origin . . . 21 15. Median Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Region, Sex, Race, and Spanish Origin, 1977 22 Introduction The magnitude and persistence of the earnings gap between women and men is a familiar and important issue among working women for several reasons. First, most women work because of economic need, and women have assumed a significant role in the economic support of themselves and their famlies. Their concentration in low-paying, dead end jobs makes their budget problems more difficult. Second, the sustained earnings differential is in sharp contrast to the gains women have made recently in the number and kinds of jobs they hold. Women who worked at year-round full-time 1/ jobs in 1977 earned only 59 cents for every dollar earned by men (table 1, column 4). In fact, men's median weekly earnings exceeded women's by about $116, so that women had to work nearly 9 days to gross the same earnings men grossed in 5 days. The earnings differential has not changed substantially in recent years. In 1977, the $14,626 earned by men was 70 percent more than the $8,618 earned by women (table 1, column 5). The differential has remained at about this level since 1961. When the absolute difference between the earnings of men and women over a 20-year period is expressed in constant dollars, to take into account the reduced purchasing power of the dollar, the disparity is even more evident. The differences increased 64 percent—from $2,023 in 1957 to $3,310 in 1977 (column 6). Women are clearly overrepresented among those workers whose earnings are low. They are 3.2 times as likely as men to be earning between $3,000 and $4,999 and about as likely to be within the $5,000 to $6,999 earnings range. Women are much less likely than men to be earning $15,000 and over (table 2, column 5). The persistent female-male earnings differential is in contrast to the gains women have made in employment in recent years. Two primary factors have sustained the gap. First, despite the fact that increasing numbers of women are securing higher level and better paying positions, the majority are still concentrated in lower paying occupations of a traditional nature which provide limited opportunity for advancement. Second, the recent dynamic rise in women's labor force participation has resulted in larger proportions of women who are in or near the entry levels. The labor force participation rate of women (the percent of all women 16 years of age and over who are in the labor force) has steadily increased since World War II. Over the past 20 years it has risen from 37 percent to 50 percent. In 1958 women accounted for 33 percent of the civilian labor force; in 1978 they made up about 42 percent. Many of the new entrants as well as reentrants to the labor force must often accept relatively low-paying jobs, which tend to pull down their median earnings. However, the earnings of many of these women may increase over time, especially for those in nontraditional careers. Several other factors are also significant in the gap between the earnings of women and men. Although women workers are as well educated as men in terms of median years of schooling completed, there are differences in the kinds of education, training, and counseling they receive, which directs them into traditional and low-paying jobs. The fact that women working on full-time schedules tend to work less overtime than men is also attributed to the earnings differential. 1/ Worked 50 to 52 weeks, 35 hours or more a week. In addition, women on the average have fewer years of worklife experience than men. Studies have shown, however, that even after adjusting for some of these and other factors such as age, region, and industrial concentration, much of the femalemale earnings differential remains unexplained. Discrimination in hiring, promotions, and pay scales continues to be a major obstacle to equality for women in the workplace. Data from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) indicate that women experience unusual difficulty in getting hired and promoted into top career positions. Undoubtedly this is true in many instances and at various job levels. Differences in the occupations and industries in which women and men are employed, their educational attainment, work experience, and hours of work are discussed in the sections below. In addition, comparisons of the earnings of women and men, highlighting differentials by age, race, and marital status, and by U.S. regions, are provided in the data which follow. Occupation, Industry, and Class of Worker Despite recent changes in the structure of the labor force, and women's increasing attachment to their jobs, historical patterns concerning "men's jobs" and "women's jobs" still persist. Although this pattern has become less rigid in recent years, such sex stereotyping still seems to restrict or discourage women, especially older women, from entering many higher paying traditionally male occupations. Of prime importance, then, in explaining the earnings differential is the concentration of women in relatively low-paying occupations and lower status jobs even within the higher paying occupation groups. For example, among the major occupation groups employing large numbers of women in 1977, the earnings gap was largest among year-round full-time sales workers, where most high-paying commissioned, nonretail jobs were held by men (table 3). Even among sales workers in retail trade, men's salaries were more than double women's. Men in retailing sell most of the big ticket commissioned items while women sell most of the lower priced items. Among professional and technical workers, men earned 52 percent more than women. Doctors, lawyers, judges, engineers, college educators, or architects were likely to be men, while elementary and secondary school teachers, nurses, librarians, dietitians, and health technologists were usually women. The earnings differential was smallest among nonfarm laborers, which included only 422,000 women in 1977. When a detailed occupational comparison is made of fully employed women in highly skilled jobs, the gap narrows but does not disappear. Among health workers (except physicians, dentists, and related practitioners) and computer specialists, men's earnings exceeded women's by 11 percent and 25 percent, respectively. Among elementary and secondary school teachers, the gap was 28 percent. Among managers, women in public administration had salaries which most nearly approached men's. Still, they earned only 67 cents for every dollar earned by men. The median salaries of women scientists in 1976 were from $1,700 to $6,600 less than those of men in the same fields. The gap was widest in physical science, where women earned a median salary of only $16,900 as compared with $23,500 for men (table 4). Between 1973 and 1977, the numbers and proportions of women with earnings that ranked in the top half of all workers1 earnings, by occupation, increased (table 5). However, with notable exceptions, these increases were usually small and -2- women accounted for small proportions of all workers with earnings above the median in both 1973 and 1977. Among professional and .technical workers, women's share of those earning more than the median (the top earners) increased from 12 to 16 percent. The largest increase was among clerical workers—an occupation in which women continue to account for a far larger proportion of all persons in those jobs. The gap also tended to be narrower—and to a substantial degree—between women and men government workers than between women and men in the private sector (table 7). Wages and salaries for women in government amounted to 68 percent of men's, but among private workers, it was 59 percent. The wages of women were much higher among government workers than among those in the private sector. However, although black women in government had higher earnings, women of Spanish origin in government had earnings significantly lower than their counterparts who were private wage and salary workers. The narrowest wage gap existed in State and local government among all classes of employees. But wages and salaries for these workers, male and female, white and black, tended to be lower than those of private and Federal workers. Educational Attainment The educational background of workers often determines not only the type of job but also the level within an occupation for which they can qualify at entry. However, women who work year round full time earn substantially less than fully employed men who have the same number of years of education (table 8). In fact, in 1977 women with 4 years of college had lower incomes than men who had completed only the 8th grade. Fully employed women high school graduates (no college) had less income on the average than fully employed men who had not completed elementary school. The absolute dollar gap between women and men widened with increasing levels of educational attainment, with only two exceptions—persons with 1 to 3 years of college only and those with graduate and professional degrees* The relative income position of women (women's income as a percent of men's, column 4) was at a low point for an educational attainment of 8 years (54.3 percent). Women's relative income improved with additional schooling, with the exception of 4 years of college only. Here, men's income increased dramatically with the addition of a bachelor's degree, while women's increased modestly. The gap was narrowest between those who had completed 5 or more years of college. Even at this level, women's income was only 65 percent of men's. The extent to which men's income exceeded women's is reflected in the relative income differentials (column 5). The fact that the marginal return on the investments in education was greater for men than for women is confirmed by the data in columns 6 and 7 of table 8. Only among the small number of workers completing 5 years of college or more was the return from an additional education investment better for women than for men. Educational attainment data further suggest that women needed more education than men to reach the middle- to upper-income categories. In 1977, among workers in income categories ranging from $4,000 upward, women consistently had a higher median educational attainment than men (table 9). Among persons with incomes of $15,000 to $19,999 and $20,000 to $24,999, women's median educational attainments were 14.5 years and 16.3 years compared with men's 12.8 and 13.0 years, respectively. Higher education (a median attainment of 13 years or more) became important for men with incomes over $20,000. For women, education became an important component for those with incomes over $12,000. -3- Work Experience Along with education, work experience has been considered another partial explanation for the earnings differential between women and men. The theory is that earnings are affected by the amount of experience on the job or, in general, the average number of years a person works during his or her lifetime. The discontinuous worklife of some women adversely affects their earnings potential. Also, many women, especially older women who anticipated working in the home for a larger portion of their lives, did not prepare themselves for long-term careers in full-time jobs which would provide higher earnings. Women, upon reentering the labor market after a period of absence—perhaps devoted to childbearing and other family responsibilities—often experience difficulty in finding a rewarding job. These women may find employers unwilling to credit their previous work experience or their activities during the period they were out of the labor force as evidence of current job skills or future potential. One would expect that young women and men without work experience but with the same educational background in the same occupational fields would receive the same entry level salaries. Surveys of starting salaries for women and men graduating from college, however, have for many years revealed differences in "offers" received by women and men job seekers. This gap has narrowed appreciably in recent years, and in certain highly technical fields with a limited number of openings, the salary offers for first jobs to women exceed menfs. However, the majority of women continue to receive lower offers than men. According to a 1976 survey, women who entered the job market after graduation in June 1976 would receive higher salary offers than men in 9 of the 19 fields enumerated in table 10. This is a marked change from earlier years when salaries offered to women were substantially below those of men in all fields. In 1970, for example, the spread between the offers to women and men ranged from $1,032 less for women in accounting to $216 less for them in economics and finance. But in 1976, the range was from a $1,152 disadvantage for women in the social sciences to an advantage of $588 in civil engineering. These figures, of course, do not indicate whether different salaries are being offered to women and men hired by the same company for the same type job, but they are averages of offers by all surveyed companies planning to employ graduates in specified fields. Overtime Work Of the 7.7 million workers who received pay for working overtime in May 1977, only 22 percent were women. The proportion of men employed full time who worked 41 hours or more averaged about 24 percent in May 1977; only 16 percent of women who were employed full-time worked overtime. Not only is the proportion of women who work overtime smaller, but women's weekly earnings, even with premium pay, remain lower than men's. About 2 out of 5 women who worked overtime in May 1977—but only 1 out of 8 men—earned less than $150 a week. Only 16 percent of the women but 33 percent of the men earned $300 or more a week. Median overtime earnings for all men were $252 a week; they were only $161 for women (table 11). Earnings Differentials Age.—Although women who worked year round full time had incomes in 1977 equal to only 58 percent of similarly employed men, the widest differential was between women and men aged 45 to 49 years—the ages where men's income on the -4- average, peaked (table 12). Women's income peaked at a much earlier age—30 to 34 years—but their median incomes by age did not vary as extremely as men's. These characteristics are symptoms of women's dead-end careers and general lack of labor force mobility. The earnings gap widened after age 35, as men's careers continued to advance and earnings increased, and remained extreme through the usual working age of 65 years, and even beyond. Women aged 30 to 34 had the highest average income among women—$9,629. This amount is only slightly higher than the median figure for each age group between 25 and 69 years. However, the $17,347 peak income for men which occurred among those aged 45 to 49 years, was significantly greater than the income of younger men aged 25 to 29—at the beginning of their careers. Again, these data suggest the contrast between men's increased earnings with experience and job growth in comparison with women's stagnant earnings pattern. Race.—The wages of both white and black women are substantially less than the wages of men, either white or black. Although fully employed minority women continue to have lower wages than white women, the gap between these women was only $402, or 5 percent less than white women's wage and salary income in 1977 (table 13). The wage differential between nonwhite women and men was considerably less than that between white women and men. The gap between black women and men was $2,401, or 23 percent less than black men's wages. White men's wages exceeded white women's by $6,443, or 42 percent less than white men's wages. The gap between white and black men was $4,177, or 27 percent less than white men',s wage and salary income. Marital Status.—Among women aged 25 to 64 years who worked year round full time in 1977, those who were divorced or single had the highest incomes, substantially higher than that of married and widowed women. However, the income of married men was significantly above that of single and divorced men. The income differential by gender was smallest between those individuals who were single or divorced (table 14). In fact, single women's income was 84 percent of single men's, while divorced women's income was 76 percent of that of divorced men. The income of single black women aged 25 to 64 years exceeded that of single black men. Also, the income differential was small between black women and men who were separated. Regions.—The income differentials by sex and region are fairly consistent throughout the country. Nearly all sections were close to the national female/male earnings ratio of 58.5 percent in 1977 (table 15). Generally women fared best in this comparison in the Northeast, especially in the Middle Atlantic States where women's income was 62 percent of men's. The widest differential was in the North Central States, particularly the East North Central region where women's income amounted to 57 percent of men's. The differential between black women and men was most favorable in the South, especially in the South Atlantic States, due mostly to the much lower earnings of black men. The gap was widest in the North Central States, largely because of the relatively high earnings of black men in that region. -5- Table 1.—Comparison of Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, 1955-1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Year Median earnings Women Men (2) (1) Earnings gap in dollars (3) 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 $8,618 8,099 7,504 6,772 6,335 5,903 5,593 5,323 4,977 4,457 4,150 3,973 3,823 3,690 3,561 3,446 3,351 3,293 3,193 3,102 3,008 2,827 2,719 $14,626 13,455 12,758 11,835 11,186 10,202 9,399 8,966 8,227 7,664 7,182 6,848 6,375 6,195 5,978 5,974 5,644 5,417 5,209 4,927 4,713 4,466 4,252 $6,008 5,356 5,254 5,063 4,851 4,299 3,806 3,643 3,250 3,207 3,032 2,875 2,552 2,505 2,417 2,528 2,293 2,124 2,016 1,825 1,705 1,639 1,533 Notes: Women's earnings as a percent of men's (4) Percent men* s earnings exceeded women1s (5) Earnings gap in constant 1967 dollars (6) 58.9 60.2 58.8 57.2 56.6 57.9 59.5 59.4 60.5 58.2 57.8 58.0 60.0 59.6 59.6 59.5 59.4 60.8 61.3 63.0 63.8 63.3 63.9 69.7 66.1 70.0 74.8 76.6 72.8 68.0 68.4 65.3 72.0 73.1 72.4 66.8 67.9 67.9 73.4 68.4 64.5 63.1 58.8 56.7 58.0 56.4 $3,310 3,141 3,259 3,433 3,649 3,435 3,136 3,133 2,961 3,079 3,032 2,958 2,700 2,696 2,637 2,790 2,559 2,394 2,308 2,108 2,023 2,014 1,911 For 1967-77, data include wage and salary income and earnings from self-employment; for 1955-66, data include wage and salary income only. Column 3 - column Column 4 = column Column 5 = column Column 6 = column (1967 = $1.00). 2 1 2 3 minus column 1. divided by column 2. minus column 1, divided by column 1. times the purchasing power of the consumer dollar Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: "Money Income of Families and Persons in the United States,1' Current Population Reports, 1957 to 1977, U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics: Handbook of Labor Statistics/ - 6 - Table 2.—Earnings Distribution of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over). Earnings group Likelihood of a woman rather than Number a man to be (in thousands) Distribution in each earnWomen Men Women Men ings group 1/ (2) (3) (4) (5) en Number and distribution 19,238 39,263 100.0 100.0 1.0 32.9 713 1,667 3,810 5,921 5,234 1,692 180 1,026 1,057 2,356 4,955 10,883 13,888 5,099 3.7 8.7 19.8 30.8 27.3 8.8 .9 2.6 2.7 6.0 12.6 27.7 35.4 13.0 1.4 3.2 3.3 2.4 1.0 .2 (2/) 41.0 61.2 61.8 54.4 32.5' 10.9 3.4 Less than $3,000 $3,000 to $4,999 $5,000 to $6,999 $7,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to $14,999 $15,000 to $24,999 $25,000 and over Notes: Women as percent of all earners (6) Cumulative distribution Women Men (7) (8) 3.7 12.4 32.2 63.0 90.3 99.1 100.0 2.6 5.3 11.3 23.9 51.6 87.0 100.0 Individual items may not add to totals because of rounding. Column 5 - column 3 divided by column 4. Column 6 = column 1 divided by the sums of columns 1 and 2, times 100. U This measure would show earnings equality if\the coefficient for each income group were equal to 1.0. This is a more accurate method of assessing the earnings disparity than simply comparing medians. 2/ Less than 0.1. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: Reports, P.60, No. 118. - 7 - Current Population Table 3.—Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Civilian Workers* by Occupation Group and Sex, 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Occupation group Total Women Men Dollar gap Women's earnings as a percent of men's Percent men's earnings exceeded women's $8,618 $14,626 $6,008 58.9 69.7 Professional and technical workers Accountants Computer specialists Health workers (except physicians, dentists, and related practioners) Teachers College and university Elementary and secondary Engineering and science technicians 11,995 11,155 15,135 18,224 17,312 18,849 6,229 6,157 3,714 65.8 64.4 80.3 51.9 55.2 24.5 12,093 11,970 15,172 11,732 11,566 13,360 15,790 20,337 15,029 15,147 1,267 3,820 5,165 3,297 3,581 90.5 75.8 74.6 78.1 76.4 10.5 31.9 34.0 28.1 31.0 Managers and administrators Salaried Manufacturing Retail trade Finance, insurance, and real estate Public administration Other industries Self-employed Retail trade 9,799 10,272 11,277 8,437 10,684 12,568 10,839 4,258 4,732 18,086 19,023 22,523 15,076 19,696 18,673 20,220 12,428 10,554 8,287 8,751 11,246 6,639 9,012 6,105 9,381 8,170 5,822 54.2 54.0 50.1 56.0 54.2 67.3 53.6 34.3 44.8 84.6 85.2 99.7 78.7 84.4 48.6 86.5 191.9 123.0 6,825 16,067 9,242 42.5 135.4 11,020 5,529 5,413 18,907 11,110 10,114 7,887 5,581 4,701 58.3 49.8 53.5 71.6 100.1 86.8 Sales workers Insurance, real estate, and stock agents and brokers Retail trade Sales clerks Clerical workers Bookkeepers Cashiers and counter clerks (except food) Office machinery operators 8,601 8,516 13,966 13,520 5,365 5,004 61.6 63.0 62.4 58.8 6,632 9,019 10,139 13,076 3,507 4,057 65.4 69.0 52.9 45.0 Craft and kindred workers Blue-collar worker supervisor, n.e.c. 8,902 9,138 14,517 16,202 5,615 7,064 61.3 56.4 63.1 77.3 Operatives, including transport Manufacturing Durable goods Nondurable goods Nonmanuf ac turing Operatives (except transport) 7,350 7,479 8,305 6,736 6,401 7,342 12,612 12,644 12,648 12,631 12,536 12,384 5,262 5,165 4,343 5,895 6,135 5,042 58.3 59.2 65.7 53.3 51.1 59.3 71.6 69.1 52.3 87.5 95.8 68.7 - 8 - Table 3*—Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Civilian Workers, by Occupation Group and Sex, 1977—Continued (Persons 14 years of age and over) Occupation group Laborers (except farm) Manufacturing Women Men Dollar gap Women's earnings as a percent of men's Percent men's earnings exceeded women's $7,441 7,533 $10,824 12,061 $3,383 4,528 68.7 64.5 45.5 60.1 Service workers (except private household) Cleaning service workers Food service workers Health service workers Personal service workers 6,108 6,353 5,255 7,050 6,097 10,332 9,201 7,332 8,643 9,553 4,224 2,848 2,077 1,593 3,456 59.1 69.0 71.7 81.6 63.8 69.2 44.8 39.5 22.6 56.7 Farm workers 1,635 6,412 4,777 25.5 292.2 Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. - 9 - Table 4.—Annual Salaries of Scientists and Engineers, by Field and Sex, 1976 Percent men1 s salary exceeded women Field Median salary Men Women Dollar gap All fields $19, 000 $23,100 $4,100 21.6 Physical science Mathematical science Computer science Environmental science Engineering Life science Psychology Social science 16,900 20,100 20,100 22,200 18,200 17,300 20,300 19,000 23,500 24,100 21,800 25,300 23,200 21,100 23,500 24,900 6,600 4,000 1,700 3,100 5,000 3,800 3,200 5,900 39.1 19.9 8.5 14.0 27.5 22.0 15.8 31. 1 Source: National Science Foundation, 1978. - 10 - Table 5.—Women With Earnings Ranking in the Top Half of All Earners, by Occupation, 1973 and 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Occupation group Professional, technical workers Managers and administrators Sales workers Clerical workers Craft and kindred workers Operatives (except transport) Transport operatives Laborers (except farm) Service workers(except private household) Farmers and farm managers Farm laborers and supervisors Private household workers 1977 Women with Workers earnings above Median with earnings earnings median for all of all above workers workers median (in thousands) Women as a percent of all workers above median 1973 Women with Workers earnings Median with above earnings earnings median of all above for all workers median workers (in thousands) $15,342 16,222 13,560 9,365 228 io;176 13,066 10,427 5,127 A,305 1,552 4,995 4,350 3;317 1,110 1,071 822 259 104 3,048 59 443 9 36 16.0 6.0 6.7 6.1.0 1.4 13.4 .8 3.4 $12,500 13,400 10,114 7,194 10,655 7,220 (1/) 8,511 4,650 3,798 1,491 4,584 4,529 4,704 (1/) 1,068 522 171 56 1,788 15 495 (1/) 16 11.9 4.5 3.8 39.0 .3 10.5 (1/) 1.5 4.1 1.5 2.9 22.0 1.1 2.9 (1/) 1.9 8,030 5,219 6,860 2,729 2,550 555 235 88 694 4 6 87 27.2 .7 2.6 98.9 6,595 (1/) (1/) (2/) 2,458 (1/) (1/) (2/) 439 (1/) (1/) (2/) 17.9 (1/) (1/) (27) 9.3 (1/) (1/) (2/) _1 / Base less than 75,000 for women. 2_/ Base less than 75,000 for men. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Unpublished data. Women as a percent of all Percentage workers point above increase, median 1973 to 1977 Table 6.—Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Industry and Occupation, 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Men Dollar gap Women's earnings as a percent of men's $8,618 $14,626 $6,008 58.9 69.7 4,208 (1/) 8,723 (1/) 8,788 (1/) Q/> 7,142 16,867 14,205 18,527 19,238 13,168 10,210 2,934 58.9 69.7 Manufacturing Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 8,519 11,744 9,511 7,601 7,979 15,111 20-453 14,700 13,826 12,036 6,592 8,709 5,189 6,225 4,057 56.4 57.4 64.7 55.0 66.3 77.4 74.2 54.6 81.9 50.8 Durable goods Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 9,115 12,009 9,915 8,421 (I/) 15,267 20,781 14,602 13,925 12,284 6,152 8,772 4,687 5,504 59.7 57.8 67.9 60.5 67.5 73.0 47.3 65.4 — — Nondurable goods Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 7,904 11,507 9,017 6,830 8,001 14 733 19,841 14,902 13,633 11,351 6,829 8,334 5,885 6,803 3,340 53.6 58.0 60.5 50.1 70.6 86.4 72.4 65.3 99.6 41.7 Transportation, communication, and other public utilities Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 10,940 12,245 10,733 (1/) a/) 16,130 20,044 15,216 16,059 12,208 5,190 7,799 4,483 67.8 61.1 70.5 47.4 63.7 41.8 8,984 10,479 8,987 (1/) a/) 15,731 19,804 16,645 12,555 10,839 6,747 9,325 7,658 6,655 8,124 6,782 7,468 5,096 11,553 14,150 10,840 10,830 8,218 4,898 6,026 4,058 3,362 3,122 Industry and occupation of longest job Women Total Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries Mining Construction Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers Wholesale trade Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers Retail trade Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers - 12 - — 5,482 — 10,450 — 61.4 — 45.7 Percent men's earnings exceeded women's — 62.8 — 118.9 — — — — — — — — . — — — 57.1 52.9 54.0 75.1 89.0 85.2 — — — — 57.6 57.4 62.6 69.0 62.0 — 73.6 74.2 59.8 45.0 61.3 Table 6.—Median Earnings of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Industry and Occupation, 1977—Continued (Persons 14 years of age and over) Dollar gap Womenf s earnings as a percent of men's Percent men's earnings exceeded women* s 50.8 55.9 49.7 96.9 78.9 101.1 Industry and occupation of longest job Women Men Finance, insurance and real estate Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers $8,578 11,072 8,258 (1/) (I/) $16,889 19,810 16,609 (1/) 8,069 $8,311 8,738 8,351 Business and repair services Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 8,258 11,419 7,740 (1/) (I/) 12,358 19,316 15,505 10,197 9,037 4,100 7,897 7,765 Personal services Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 5,232 (1/) 6,732 5,342 4,659 10,499 13,333 (1/) 10,333 8,573 5,267 Entertainment and recreation services 8,127 Professional and related services Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers Public administration Professional and managerial Clerical and sales Craft workers and operatives Other workers 11 — — — — — — — — 66.8 59.1 49.9 49.6 69.2 100.3 — — — — 49.8 100.7 — — — — — — 4,991 3,914 51.7 54.3 93.4 84.0 12,161 4,034 66.8 49.6 9,422 11,919 8,264 7,222 6,761 15,426 17,779 10,552 13,091 8,742 6,004 5,860 2,288 5,869 1,981 61.1 67.0 78.3 55.2 77.3 63.7 49.2 27.7 81.3 29.3 10,327 12,315 9,930 (1/) (1/) 16,051 18,700 15,855 15,236 14,124 5,724 6,385 5,925 64.3 65.9 62.6 55.4 51.8 59.7 — — Base less than 75,000. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: Reports, P-60, No. 118. - 13 - Current Population — — Table 7.—Median Earnings in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Civilian Workers, by Class and Occupation, Sex, Race, and Spanish Origin (Persons 14 years of age and over) Class and occupation Women Total $8,618 $14,626 $8,672 $15,060 $8,097 $10,445 $7,516 $10,789 8,213 (2/) 8,226 14,784 7,682 14,945 8,311 (2/) 8,325 15,179 7,932 15,275 7,211 (2/) 7,268 10,136 (2/) 10,275 7,211 (2/) 7,228 10,586 7,799 10,802 11,633 10,045 6,809 8,552 8,898 7,355 7,416 18,564 18,981 16,004 13,057 14,963 12,709 11,255 11,540 10,000 6,860 8,547 8,882 7,505 7,248 18,626 19,227 16,156 13,403 15,135 13,010 12,061 11,522 (2/) (2/) 8,512 (2/) 6,504 (2/) 16,217 13,591 (2/) 8,964 10,945 10,612 8,320 (2/) (2/) (2/) 8,352 (2/) 6,494 (2/) 16,303 15,329 (2/) 9,790 11,164 10,567 9,605 6,061 2,743 8,662 (2/) 6,104 1,887 9,420 (2/) 5,880 3,788 7,420 (2/) 5,989 (2/) (2/) 8,019 10,342 10,327 10,425 8,967 11,508 12,001 11,411 8,886 10,161 9,058 10,390 9,085 15,182 16,051 14,708 12,658 17,118 17,314 16,154 15,835 13,951 14,679 14,605 12,148 10,420 10,275 10,553 8,935 11,563 11,701 12,681 (2/) 10,254 9,050 10,499 8,938 15,444 16,307 15,162 12,882 17,623 17,758 18,653 16,082 14,340 15,059 15,039 12,370 9,704 10,507 9,465 (2/) 11,479 13,249 (2/) (2/) 9,294 8,694 9,447 (2/) 12,206 13,637 11,001 10,321 14,966 15,322 (2/) (2/) 10,624 11,314 10,623 9,774 5,989 9,192 (2/) 9,255 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) 8,923 (2/) 9,173 (2/) 12,195 14,722 11,589 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) 10,881 (2/) 11,277 (2/) 4,737 (2/) 5,213 11,522 5,820 13,307 4,683 (2/) 5,179 11,800 5,919 13,713 (2/) (2/) (2/) 5,339 (2/) 5,645 (2/) (2/) (2/) 10,737 (2/) 10,902 (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) (2/) Private wage and salary workers Agriculture Nonagriculture Professional and technical workers Managers and administrators Sales workers Clerical workers Craft and kindred workers Operatives (including transport) Laborers Service workers (except private household) Private household workers Government wage and salary workers Public administration workers Professional services All other workers Federal government Public administration workers Professional services All other workers State and local government Public administration workers Professional services All other workers Self-employed Agriculture Nonagriculture Unpaid family workers Agriculture Nonagriculture White Black Spanish , origin Women Men All races Women Men Men Women Men J[J Persons of Spanish origin may be of any race. 2/ Base less than 75,000, Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. Table 8.—Comparison of Median Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Educational Attainment and Sex, 1977 (Persons 25 years of age and over) Years of school completed Elementary school Less than 8 years 8 years High school 1 to 3 years 4 years College 1 to 3 years 4 years 5 years or more Notes: Median income Women Men (2) (i) Income gap In dollars (3) Percent Women's men's Income as income a percent exceeded of men's women's (4) (5) $6,074 6,564 $9,419 12,083 $3,345 5,519 64.5 54.3 55.1 84.1 $490 $2,664 7,387 8,894 13,120 15,434 5,733 6,540 56.3 57.6 77.6 73.5 823 1,507 1,037 2,314 10,157 11,609 14,338 16,235 19,603 21,941 6,078 7,998 7,603 62.6 59.2 65.3 59.8 68.9 53.0 1,263 1,448 2,733 801 3,368 2,338 Column 3 = column Column 4 = column Column 5 - column Columns 6 and 7 = years of school — — 2 minus column 1. 1 divided by column 2. 2 minus column 1, divided by column 1* absolute (median) dollar difference between successive completed. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census: Reports, P-60, No. 118. Marginal dollar value of increased educational attainment Women Men (6) (7) - 15 - Current Population Table 9.—Median Educational Attainment of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex and Income, 1977 (Persons 25 years of age and over) Educational attainment Women Men Income Total $1 to $999 or loss* $1,000 to $1,499 $1,500 to $1,999 $2,000 to $2,499 $2,500 to $2,999 $3,000 to $3,499 $3,500 to $3,999 $4,000 to $4,999 $5,000 to $5,999 $6,000 to $6,999 $7,000 to $7,999 $8,000 to $8,999 $9,000 to $9,999 $10,000 to 11,999 $12,000 to $14,999 $15,000 to $19,999 $20,000 to $24,999 $25,000 and over 12.7 12.8 12.5 12.3 12.2 12.2 11.5 12.2 12.1 12.1 12.2 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 13.1 14.5 16.3 16.5 12.3 12.3 12.2 12.6 11.3 12.2 12.1 10.9 11.7 11.3 12.1 12.4 12.3 12.5 12.7 12.8 13.0 16.2 * Some persons reported their annual income as a loss. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. Unpublished data. - 16 - Table 10.—Average Annual Salary Offers, Bachelor Degree Candidates, by Curriculum and Sex, 1976 Curriculum Business Accounting General business Marketing Humanities and social sciences Humanities Social sciences Engineering Aeronautical Chemical Civil Electrical Industrial Mechanical Metallurgical Science Agricultural Biological Chemistry Computer science Health professions Mathematics Other physical and earth sciences Women Men $12,252 10,320 9,768 $12,204 10,512 10,236 8,916 9,240 9,792 10,392 14,136 15,396 13,836 14,100 13,968 14,712 14,520 13,824 15,336 13,248 13,848 13,644 14,340 14,544 9,912 9,540 12,624 12,540 9,900 11,784 10,272 9,840 12,132 12,420 10,596 11,904 12,516 12,636 Source: National Science Foundation, Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 1977. - 17 - Table 11.—Weekly Earnings of Overtime Workers Receiving Premium Pay, by Sex, May 1977 (Numbers in thousands) Less $100 $150 $200 $300 $400 Men Percent distriNumber bution Earnings Women Percent distri Number bution Total Earnings 1,661 $161 100.0 6,037 $252 100.0 180 547 460 408 88 15 10.8 32.9 27.7 24.6 5.3 .9 125 583 1,080 2,260 1,284 738 2.1 9.7 17.9 37.4 21.3 12.2 than $100 to $149 to $199 to $299 to $399 or more Note: Percent distribution may not total 100.0 due to rounding. Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Unpublished data. - 18 - Table 12.—Annual Median Income in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Age and Sex Women's income as a percent of men's Age JV Income Women Men Total $8,814 $15,070 58.5 5,632 7,497 9,543 9,485 9,629 9,282 9,488 9,049 9,142 9,179 9,098 8,846 8,990 8,556 8,922 7,257 6,042 9,800 14,129 12,866 15,447 16,863 16,703 17,064 17,029 17,347 16,723 15,669 15,981 15,200 14,536 11,722 93.2 76.5 67.5 73.7 62.3 55.0 56.0 53.0 53.7 52.9 54.4 56.5 56.3 56.3 55.8 61.9 14 to 19 years 20 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 25 to 29 years 30 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 35 to 39 years 40 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 45 to 49 years 50 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 55 to 59 years 60 to 64 years 65 to 69 years 70 years and over J./ As of March 1978. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. - 19 - Table 13.—Median Wage or Salary Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Race and Sex, 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Race Women Men Dollar gap Women1s earnings as a percent of men's Total $8,733 $14,902 $6,169 58.6 70.6 8,787 8,385 8,217 15,230 11,053 10,618 6,443 2,668 2,401 57.7 75.9 77.4 73.3 31.8 29.2 White Black and other races Black Percent men's earnings exceeded women' s Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. - 20 - Table 14.—Median Income in 1977 of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Sex, Age, Marital Status, Race, and Spanish Origin Sex, age, race and Spanish origin Total Single Married Spouse Spouse present absent Widowed Divorced All races Female 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over $8,819 $8,575 7,254 7,046 9,280 10,225 7,838 (1/) $8,644 7,435 8,839 6,826 $8,501 7,402 8,739 $9,291 (1/) 9,409 8,382 $10,156 7,873 10,309 a/) Male 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 15,082 10,117 9,301 8,217 15,748 12,126 13,815 (1/) 15,942 10,582 16,316 14,866 11,835 9,666 12,187 (I/) 14,820 (1/) 15,276 a/) 13,360 10,443 13,550 a/) White Female 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 8,874 8,634 7,252 7,050 9,399 10,430 7,932 (1/) 8,660 7,414 8,868 6,863 9,054 7,545 9,662 (I/) 9,445 (1/) 9,576 8,353 10,196 7,829 10,374 Male 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 15,391 10,290 9,397 8,270 16,102 12,527 14,745 a/) 16,211 10,664 16,613 15,191 13,298 10,273 13,832 (1/) 15,978 (1/) 16,113 a/) 13,643 (1/) 13,827 8,165 9,659 (1/) 9,685 a/) an Black Female 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 8,297 7,063 8,525 a/) 8,102 6,963 8,854 <i/> 8,298 (U) 8,444 (1/) 7,571 (1/) 7,746 a/) Male 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 10,607 8,041 10,964 a/) 8,263 7,602 8,646 a/) 11,639 8,794 11,845 a/) 8,036 Spanish origin 2/ Female 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 7,603 6,750 7,874 a/) 7,629 6,691 8,507 a/) 7,416 a/) 7,580 a/) Male 18 years and over 18 to 24 years 25 to 64 years 65 years and over 10,942 8,902 11,591 a/) 8,128 7,549 9,334 a/) 11,736 10,083 12,157 a/) an 8,009 an an an an an (i/) a/) 11,169 (1/) 11,266 a/) (i/) (i/) an a/) (i/) (i/) (i/) a/) 8,519 (1/) 8,704 a/) 9,519 (1/) 10,021 (1/) (i/) (i/) (i/) (i/) (1/) (1/) (1/) (1/) an an 8,278 1/ Base less than 75,0002/ Persons of Spanish origin may be of any race. Source: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. - 21 - Table 1 5 . — M e d i a n Income of Year-Round Full-Time Workers, by Region, Sex, Race, and Spanish Origin, 1977 (Persons 14 years of age and over) Northeast United States All races Female Male Women's income as a percent of men's White Female Male Women's income as a percent of men's Black Female Male Women's income as a percent of men's Spanish origin Female Male Women's income as a percent of men's U New Total England Middle Atlantic North Central East West North North Total Central Central South Total West Mountain Pacific West South Central $9,433 15,362 $9,047 15,251 $9,558 15,407 $8,877 15,491 $9,068 15,880 $8,477 14,163 $9,509 15,797 $8,494 14,594 $9,862 16,209 $8,141 13,502 $8,294 13,593 $7,501 12,854 $8,221 13,800 58.5 61.4 59.3 62.0 57.3 57.1 59.9 60.2 58.2 60.8 60.3 61.0 58.4 59.6 8,870 15,378 9,485 15,547 9,005 15,246 9,663 15,677 8,858 15,646 9,033 16,082 8,493 14,316 9,509 15,970 8,521 14,742 9,899 16,464 8,287 14,400 8,445 14,767 7,688 13,607 8,341 14,434 57.7 61.0 59.1 61.6 56.6 56.2 59.3 59.5 57.8 60.1 57.5 57.2 56.5 57.8 8,290 10,602 8,995 11,946 O/) d/) 8,994 11,667 8,964 12,855 9,201 13,244 10,744 13,553 10,010 7,255 9,086 7,496 9,206 6,400 8,392 7,158 9,238 78.2 75.3 77.1 69.7 69.5 73.9 79.8 81.4 76.3 77.5 7,599 10,935 7,861 10,293 7,834 10,244 13,197 7,945 11,399 6,858 10,001 a/) 11,890 U/) (I/) 6,895 9,477 69.5 76.4 69.7 68.6 (1/) (1/) 76.5 a/) a/) 13,397 a/) 9,798 13,544 07) U/) 72.3 CI/) (1/) 7,759 11,575 a/) 12,187 67.0 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, P-60, No. 118. East South Central $8,814 15,070 Base less than 75,000. Source: Total South Atlantic 72.8