Men also fared better than women, with median earnings for full-time, year-round workers increasing 3.7% for men, but staying roughly flat for women. That led to a decline in the female-to-male earnings ratio to 80.9% last year, down from 82.7% in 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,” Emily Martin, chief program officer at the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement.