COWS Says Women still Earn Less in Comparisons

" ... Maybe this will be an opportunity for people
to rethink paid employment, particularly now
that families are dependent on the earnings of
the wife. A lot of the jobs out here for women
are in nursing or as home health aides. Those
are not jobs that pay family-sustaining wages.
Eileen Appelbaum, Economist and Director
Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University
(as quoted in Newsweek) ... "

Research for this report was provided by Jessa Lewis Valentine, Senior Research Specialist, Center on Wisconsin Strategy, and Greta Voltz, Research Intern, Wisconsin Women’s Council.
[SOURCE]

Center on Wisconsin Strategy
The Center on Wisconsin Strategy (COWS) is a policy center and field laboratory for high road economic development — a competitive market economy of shared prosperity, environmental sustainability, and capable democratic government. Housed at University of Wisconsin-Madison, COWS has been supporting progressive policy innovation since 1991. For more information: www.cows.org.

Nevertheless, the gender wage gap remains persistent and substantial. In 2009, women earned 81 cents on the dollar compared to men (see Figure 1). This gender wage gap is slightly wider than the 2008 gap of 82 cents on the dollar. With a median hourly wage of $14.50 in 2009, Wisconsin women’s wages were roughly 19 percent lower than men’s. At this rate, a full-time woman worker in the state would earn around $30,200 per year, on average, compared to more than $37,400 per year for men—a difference of over $7,000 in earnings annually.

For all Wisconsin workers, education—particularly securing a four-year degree—pays off in increased wages. However, while the gender wage gap diminishes with higher levels of education, men earn more than women at all education levels, as shown in Figure 2. In 2009, women with a high school diploma earned 75 cents on the dollar compared to men with the same education. This improves to 80 cents on the dollar for women with a Bachelors degree and to 89 cents on the dollar for women with more than a four-year degree, compared to similarly educated men.