Equal Pay Day 2024

Equal Pay Day is the date in the year that symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year. Equal Pay Day was originated by the National Committee on Pay Equity in 1996 as a public awareness event to illustrate the gap between men's and women's wages. This year, Equal Pay Day in the United States was on March 12, 2024, two days earlier than last year. When the Equal Pay Act was first enacted in 1963, women earned just $0.59 for every $1 men made. Today the gap has narrowed to $0.83. Despite progress, this improvement has been slow and almost stagnant in recent years with no gain this year from the last when looking at the United States as a whole.

PayScale’s annual gender pay gap report does a fantastic job of breaking down this data with many graphics to illustrate. The $0.83 cents that women earn for every $1 men earn is based on the uncontrolled pay gap. This is the “opportunity gap” and measures the median salary for all men and women. The uncontrolled pay gap is an indicator of how gendered wealth and power is distributed within a society. These gaps widen even further when broken down by women of color, with the lowest being American Indian and Native Alaskan women making $0.74 to every $1 men make, with this data focusing only on those with at least a bachelor’s degree.

Another way to look at this data is by the controlled gap, which measures median salary for men and women with the same job and qualifications. The controlled gap shows women earning $0.99 for every $1 men make. While $0.01 seems inconsequential in comparison, over the course of a career this does add up and still shows a gap when looking at all compensable factors equally, such as job title, education, experience, etc. with no justification for the difference in pay.

There are many factors and complex causes as to why this pay gap still exists. There is much discussion when it comes to the gender pay gap around parental status, often referred to as the “motherhood penalty” versus the “fatherhood bonus.” The uncontrolled pay gap for mothers stands at $0.75 and decreases to $0.88 on the dollar for women who do not have children.  Unfortunately, these numbers mirror what the data showed last year with no improvement.   

Some other notable research is the gender uncontrolled pay gap widens related to age. The uncontrolled pay gap starts out at $0.87 cents to every $1 from ages 20 to 29 and widens to $0.74 cents to every $1 for ages 45 and up. The uncontrolled gender pay gap also exists at all education levels, ranging from $0.76 to $0.89 and looks at high school diplomas up to PhDs. Women are paid less than men as they climb the corporate ladder and aren’t promoted as often or as quickly as men. The pay gap at the executive level for women is $0.72 on the dollar compared to men.

With all the previous statistics reflecting data for the entire United States, one exciting improvement is looking at the pay gap by location. Oregon is one of fourteen states that have closed the controlled gap, where last year there were nine.  The Portland Metro area is the only large metropolitan area that reports women earning .01 more than men when looking at the controlled gap.  Portland Metro fell this year regarding the uncontrolled pay gap, where last year they had closed it.  This year they are back down to $0.85 per $1, with no large metropolitan areas reporting the uncontrolled gap closed.  With the continual push for pay transparency and pay equity laws potentially exposing more of these gaps at organizations, hopefully the closing of the gap trend extends to many more locations in the coming year.

If you need consulting help with any of your pay equity questions, reach out to our Compensation Team today.