April 9, 2014
By Stephanie West
Special Report
New York, NY – Comptroller Scott M. Stringer has released an analysis of the gender and wage gap in New York City showing despite the positive effects of the Equal Pay Act, the average woman working full-time still earns only 82 percent of the average man.
That gap is even larger outside of New York City, with female workers making just 72 percent of male earnings.
Millennials have made strides in closing the wage gap in New York City, with women under the age of 35 earning 96 cents for every dollar young men earn. However, the wage gap widens considerably for women between the ages of 35-65 – with earnings of about 78 cents on the dollar.
“It’s disappointing to think a half-century after the Equal Pay Act, women still face significant financial inequities in the workplace,” said Comptroller Stringer. “This kind of discrimination belongs in the history books. It’s time women enjoy their fair share of this economy – they’ve earned it.”
Many factors underlie the stubborn wage gap, from women being pressured to leave the workforce to care for their children and returning to a labor market that favors continuous employment, to the segregation of women into certain fields and occupations where wages are characteristically lower.
