The EEOC releases data on the gender pay gap.
Data just released by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reveals the gender pay gap, with men outperforming women, especially in the highest-paying jobs. This gap is greatest for women of color.
This week, the EEOC released aggregated payroll data collected from companies in 2017 and 2018. To make this information more accessible to everyone, the EEOC has also launched a new interactive tool that lets you search pay information by gender, location, race, and job type. This is the first time the EEOC has released paid data.
The gender gap is most stark at the top of the pay scale, where men make up a whopping three-quarters of individuals earning more than $208,000. His salary ranges from $163,000 to $207,000, making him the second highest salary bracket, and it’s surprising that 71% of his earners are men. Conversely, women are overrepresented in the low-income bracket, accounting for 59% of women earning less than $19,000.
The data also highlights how women of color are particularly disadvantaged. In 2018, women had lower average incomes than men across all racial groups. Black women and American Indian or Alaska Native women had the lowest median incomes, ranging from $19,200 to $24,400.
In 2018, the median salary range for men completely exceeded the salary range for women, with men earning between $39,000 and $49,900 on average, compared to $30,600 for women. It was between $38,900 and $38,900. (Summary data is also presented in ranges because the data was reported to his EEOC by companies in salary ranges or ranges).
The EEOC collected 2017 and 2018 payroll data from private employers and certain federal contractors with 100 or more employees. They have compiled data representing over 100 million workers and his 70,000 employers.
As part of the data release, the EEOC created an interactive dashboard where anyone can explore median salaries by gender, state, job type, industry, and race. For example, you can search for salaries for black men and women who are professionals in the arts and entertainment industry in California. The EEOC also shared the following key insights from its own data review and highlighted some unfortunate discrepancies.
- Hawaii was the only state where the median salary ranges for men and women matched. Wyoming was the state with the largest pay gap, with women earning four times more than men.
- Administrative support and service jobs were the only jobs in which women’s median earnings were equal to men’s. In eight of her other occupations, the average wage for men was higher, and in six of her occupations, the average income for men was two salary ranges higher than hers.
- In all industries except accommodation and food services, the average wage range for men was higher than for women.
There was no state, job, or industry where women earned more than men.
This data was originally collected to assist the EEOC in enforcing equal pay laws. “The lack of access to pay data absent a specific allegation of discrimination has long been a barrier to agency efforts to enforce federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination.” In 2010, the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force has recommended that the EEOC consider collecting payroll information to support the agency’s law enforcement efforts,” the EEOC said as part of its data release.
The disclosure requirements for businesses, known as Form EEO-1 Component 2, were repealed by the Trump administration in 2019. As a result, the EEOC only has salary data for 2017 and 2018.
Jocelyn C. Frye, president of the National Partnership for Women and Families, said in a statement about the data release that women have come a long way since 1963, when the Equal Pay Act was enacted and women earned 59 cents on the dollar. He pointed out that he had come a long way. The man earned it.
“We use Equal Pay Day as an important day to challenge the misconception that women’s choices are the cause of pay inequality and to recommit ourselves to the mission of eradicating America’s gender pay gap once and for all. It should be seen as an opportunity,” Frye said.
