KENNEWICK — In 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity began a public awareness campaign now known as Equal Pay Day. Each year, the committee calculates how many additional days women would have to work in order to match the annual pay of their male counterparts.
This year, Equal Pay Day is March 12, meaning women would have had to work more than an additional two months to make what men did in 2023.
“Equal Pay Day is a reminder that women in this country still face a persistent pay gap—this holds women back, holds families back, and holds our entire economy back,” Senator Patty Murray (D-Wash.) stated in a press release. “The wage gap persists regardless of industry or education level, and it is present within occupations—this is a serious issue that hurts women across America and cannot just be waved off.”
Additionally, Forbes Advisor data suggests that Washington has one of the highest gender wage gaps in the country, rising in the ranks from previous years.
Men make more money across U.S.
While the gap has gone down over the last few decades, women still earn an average of 16% less than men, or 84 cents for every dollar. This disparity is only exacerbated for women of color.
This is up from 2010, when women made 77 cents for every dollar men made.
Across a 40-year career, women lose more than $400,000 on average due to the gender wage gap. This also leads to lower Social Security earnings, less retirement savings and other impacts.
That said, there are two types of gender pay gaps, controlled and uncontrolled, according to Forbes Advisor. Controlled refers to the difference in pay between men and women in the same job, and uncontrolled refers to the difference in pay considering all the jobs and industries in which they work. When looking only at the controlled gender pay gap, the difference has gone down to a one-cent difference, with women making 99 cents for every dollar men earn.
The Center for American Progress projects that gender pay equity won’t become a reality until 2056. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research predicts an additional decade until there is gender pay equity for white women, and over 200 years for all women of color, if progress continues at the same rate.
Gender pay gap in Washington state
In Washington state, men make an average of $16,501 more per year than women, according to the Forbes Advisor study. This puts the Evergreen State as the state with the fourth-highest gender wage gap.
The states (and district) with the highest pay gap between men and women are:
- 1. Wyoming
- 2. New Hampshire
- 3. Utah
- 4. Washington
- 5. District of Columbia
- 6. Louisiana
- 7. Montana
- 8. New Jersey
- 9. Michigan
- 10. Alabama
The state with the smallest gender wage gap is Vermont, according to Forbes Advisor, where men make $3,872 more than women.
A closer look at gender wage gaps
There are many factors that impact what a woman makes compared to what a man makes. The Forbes Advisor data also looked at many of these additional factors, including industry, race, ethnicity and education.
Some of the lowest-paid workers are women of color in rural areas, who make just 56 cents for every dollar made by white, non-Hispanic men in rural areas. Latinas typically make 55% of what non-Hispanic white men are paid, Native American women make 59% and Black women make 64%, according to Forbes Advisor data.
This can lead to over a million dollars lost over a lifetime for women of color.
Only three positions were identified as roles where women make more than men in the Forbes Advisor report. Female compliance officers and vocational workers make an average of 3% more than their male counterparts, and female wholesale and retail buyers make an average of 2% more.
Only one job has equal pay, as male and female teaching assistants tend to make the same amount.
The position with the largest gender pay gap is real estate brokers, who make an average of 60% more when male. Personal finance advisors follow closely at 58%.
The industry with the highest gender wage gap is the legal field, with men earning an average of 59% more than women.
The industry with the smallest gender wage gap still has a 9% difference, in physical and social science occupations.
The disparity does not go away with education, in fact, the opposite is true.
Women with a Bachelor’s degree earn an average of 74 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts with equal education. The gap widens with more education, according to the Forbes Advisor data.
Across entry-level positions, women earn an average of $52,266, compared to men’s $64,022.
