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How big is the gender wage gap now? What new Census data shows.
The bureau noted the initial decrease from 2022 to 2023 as “the first statistically significant annual decrease” since 2003.
The backslide is worse for Black women, who in 2024 were paid 65 cents for every dollar paid to White men. That’s down from 66 cents in 2023 and 69 cents in 2022, according to a release from the National Women’s Law Center.
The report also found median earnings increased 3.7% for full-time, year-round male workers but did not change significantly for women. Overall median household income was not statistically different from 2023.
“At a time when women, including many mothers, are leaving the labor force at record rates, it is a five-alarm fire to see that the gender wage gap is widening for an unprecedented second year in a row,” said Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center. Martin noted the Trump administration “is making the problem worse by undermining workplace protections and weakening caregiving support that could help women enter and remain in the workforce.”