Policy Brief: The Gender Wage Gap by Occupation, Race, and Ethnicity in 2020

Posted by Institute for Women's Policy Research on March 30, 2021

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) published a policy brief outlining the gender and racial earnings gaps present in 2020. According to IWPR’s analysis, women earned less than men in almost all occupations, whether they worked in predominantly male, predominantly female, or more integrated occupations. In the lowest paid of the largest 20 occupations for women, maids and housekeepers (who earn on average $503 per week), women are nine-in-ten workers and face a wage gap of 10.6 percent. In the highest paid of the largest 20 occupations for men, chief executives (who earn on average $2,402 per week), women are fewer than one-in-three workers and face a wage gap of 24.4 percent. The analysis showed that race and ethnicity compound the gender wage gap. Latinas in service occupations earn just 85 percent of Latino men’s median weekly earnings and Latino men earn just 78.9 percent of white non-Hispanic men. Black women in professional occupations earn just 81.8 percent of Black men’s median weekly earnings and on average; Black men earn just 79.5 percent of white non-Hispanic men. Women’s median weekly earnings in six of the largest 20 occupations for women leave a family of three near poverty.

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