Older women, who comprise 47% of the labor force for employees aged 55 and older, face a significant gender wage gap that surpasses that experienced by their younger counterparts, according to federal data.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau reports that among workers aged 50 or older, women working full-time and year-round earn approximately 75 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. In contrast, women aged 20-29 earn 93 cents for every dollar that men make.
In 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, women aged 50-59 working full-time and year-round were paid about $56,000 annually—$18,300 less than men in the same age group. Women aged 60-69 were paid about $18,800 less than men in their sixties. Women aged 70 or older earned about $16,000 less than men in their seventies.
The disparity is less pronounced among younger women. Workers aged 20-29 saw a median annual pay difference of $2,900 between genders; women were paid a median of $39,200 compared to men's median of $42,100.
Research from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau and the U.S. Census Bureau indicates that after adjusting for education, occupation, industry, work experience, hours worked and other worker characteristics, about 70% of the gender pay gap remains unexplained.
Given the significant impact of “occupational segregation” on the gender wage gap, programs providing pathways for women into high-paying nontraditional occupations can help reduce pay disparities. This was highlighted in a blog post by economist Erin George and researcher Gretchen Livingston from the DOL Women’s Bureau.
Federal initiatives such as the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant program are crucial in efforts to close gender wage gaps and enhance economic security for women. Lower wages throughout their careers affect women's Social Security benefits and other retirement income sources like IRAs and 401(k)s.
According to the National Women's Law Center (NWLC), over a typical 40-year career span, U.S. women lose an average of nearly $400,000 relative to white non-Hispanic men due to gender and racial wage gaps. The NWLC's state-by-state analysis found that this lifetime wage disparity is even higher in New Jersey at $508,000; a New Jersey woman would need to work until age 68 to match what a man earns by age 60.
