Employment and EarningsAdministrator2020-12-09T18:08:37-05:00

Trends in Employment and Earnings

Women’s status in the area of employment and earnings has improved on two indicators since the publication of IWPR’s last national report on the status of women, the 2004 Status of Women in the States, and remained unchanged or declined on two others. Women’s median annual earnings for full-time, year-round work in 2013 ($39,157) were nearly identical to their earnings for similar work in 2002 ($39,108 when adjusted to 2013 dollars). The gender earnings ratio improved during this time from 76.6 to 78.3 percent, narrowing the gender wage gap by 1.7 percentage points, and the share of women working in professional or managerial occupations grew from 33.2 to 39.9 percent. Women’s labor force participation rate, however, declined from 59.6 in 2002 to 57.0 percent in 2014.

BestWorst
1. District of Columbia51. Mississippi
2. Maryland50. West Virginia
3. Massachusetts49. Idaho
4. Connecticut48. Louisiana
5. New York47. Alabama
504, 2013

Women in West Virginia Face Large Wage Gap, Disproportionate Poverty

A recently released report, The Status of Women and Girls in West Virginia, shows women in the state have made gains in education and entrepreneurship, but still face disproportionate levels of poverty and a gaping gender wage gap. This report was written by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) in collaboration with the West Virginia Women’s Commission (WVWC).

504, 2013

Wage Gap Will Take 45 Years to Close, No Progress Since Last Year

New research from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) finds that, at the current pace of progress, the wage gap between working men and women will not close until the year 2057. This updates previous research from IWPR showing that the wage gap would close in 2056 because slow progress in recent years moves the goal for equality one year further away.