In 2016, women working full-time or salary jobs in the United States earned approximately 20 percent less than their male counterparts in the same positions.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the women’s-to-men’s earning ratio has remained in the 80 to 83 percent range for 13 years now.
“That gap, put in other terms, means women are working for free 10 weeks a year,” the Washington Post reported Thursday. So, if you’re a working woman in America, you likely started working for free as the clock struck midnight on Oct. 26.
» RELATED: The U.S. doesn’t even crack the top 15 best countries for women
It’s important to note, however, that the pay gap varies depending on a number of factors, including race.
For working women of color, the gap is even wider when compared to both white men and white women.
In fact, according to the Economic Policy Institute, black and Hispanic women with either full or part-time jobs earn 65.3 percent and 57.6 percent of the wages white men in the same positions earn, respectively.
Other factors that influence varying gender pay gaps: occupation, working hours, experience, education attainment and geography.
A separate survey of 49,000 reports found certain college majors lead to the biggest gender pay gaps.
Analysts at economics research company Glassdoor found that women studying healthcare administration go on to see the biggest gap, earning 22 percent less than their male counterparts.
Other college majors that lead to the biggest gender pay gaps, according to Glassdoor, include mathematics, biology, human resources, health sciences and biomedical engineering.
The Washington Post also created a nifty search tool that lets you find out when women in your field of work would start working for free, based on the wage gap particular to that field.
For example, women physicians or surgeons earn $58.24 an hour on average, based on the most recent data. Male physicians or surgeons earn $84.60 per hour.
That means, based on the gender pay gap for physicians and surgeons, women in the field started working for free on Sept. 8.
Women working as real estate brokers or sales agents started working for free on Sept. 23, and women who are paralegals or legal assistants would start working for free on Dec. 16.
» RELATED: Do men make more money than women? In Atlanta, the answer is what you'd expect
Despite the fact that most economics agree there’s an unexplained pay gap between men and women, others still believe it’s a myth.
The Post interactive addresses and debunks some of the biggest claims purported by pay gap deniers, including the belief that women's choices (like choosing to work part-time for family reasons) cause the pay gap, not discrimination.
But without federally mandated parental paid leave in the U.S., “the word ‘choice’ is so charged,” the Post reported.
About the Author
