The Wage Gap, by Gender and Race

(median annual earnings of black men and women, Hispanic men and women, and white women as a percentage of white men's median annual earnings)

 

Year

White
men

Black
men

Hispanic
men

White
women

Black
women

Hispanic
women

1970

100%

69.0%

n.a.

58.7%

48.2%

n.a.

1975

100

74.3

72.1%

57.5

55.4

49.3%

1980

100

70.7

70.8

58.9

55.7

50.5

1985

100

69.7

68.0

63.0

57.1

52.1

1990

100

73.1

66.3

69.4

62.5

54.3

1992

100

72.6

63.3

70.0

64.0

55.4

1994

100

75.1

64.3

71.6

63.0

55.6

1995

100

75.9

63.3

71.2

64.2

53.4

1996

100

80.0

63.9

73.3

65.1

56.6

1997

100

75.1

61.4

71.9

62.6

53.9

1998

100

74.9

61.6

72.6

62.6

53.1

1999

100

80.6

61.6

71.6

65.0

52.1

2000

100

78.2

63.4

72.2

64.6

52.8

2003

100

78.2

63.3

75.6

65.4

54.3

2004

100

74.5

63.2

76.7

68.4

56.9

 

Source: U.S. Current Population Survey and the National Committee on Pay Equity.

 

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Women's Earnings as a Percentage of Men's, 1951–2005

(for year-round, full-time work)

Year

Percent

1951

63.9%

1952

63.9

1953

63.9

1954

63.9

1955

63.9

1956

63.3

1957

63.8

1958

63.0

1959

61.3

1960

60.7

1961

59.2

1962

59.3%

1963

58.9

1964

59.1

1965

59.9

1966

57.6

1967

57.8

1968

58.2

1969

58.9

1970

59.4

1971

59.5

1972

57.9

1973

56.6%

1974

58.8

1975

58.8

1976

60.2

1977

58.9

1978

59.4

1979

59.7

1980

60.2

1981

59.2

1982

61.7

1983

63.6

1984

63.7%

1985

64.6

1986

64.3

1987

65.2

1988

66.0

1989

68.7

1990

71.6

1991

69.9

1992

70.8

1993

71.5

1994

72.0

1995

71.4%

1996

73.8

1997

74.2

1998

73.2

1999

72.2

2000

73.3

2001

76.3

2002

76.6

2003

75.5

2004

76.6

2005

77.0

Source: U.S. Women's Bureau and the National Committee on Pay Equity. Reproduced by permission of the National Committee on Pay Equity.

 

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved

  

Wage Gap, Selected European Countries

Country       

Women's wages
as % of men's

Austria

79%

Belgium

89

Denmark

86

Finland

81

France

88

Germany

81%

Greece

87

Ireland

78

Italy

91

Luxembourg

822

Netherlands

79%

Portugal

95

Spain

861

Sweden

83

United Kingdom

78

NOTES: Figures are unadjusted, and reflect the average gross hourly earnings of all paid employees aged 16–64 who worked 15+ hours per week in 1999.

1. Estimated.

2. In 1996.

Source: The Social Situation in the European Union: 2003

 

Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.