Don't Break Out The Champagne Just Yet, Sisters, But Yes Women's Wages Increased Slightly Faster Than Men's

Wage growth for American women is increasing at a faster rate than for men, a shift from earlier in the Covid-19 pandemic, reported the Wall St. Journal, though the disparities are so vast that women’s pay still lags well behind their male counterparts.

Most agree that women suffered most financially during the pandemic and dropped out of the workforce at a much higher rate than men for obvious reasons like being moms, caregivers and being part of the low-wage jobs sector that was hit hard when so many businesses closed in March 2020.

Then Came The “Great Resignation”

Now with many of these same pandemic-affected sectors rebounding and a labor market of millions who, feeling underpaid and under-appreciated, are loath to go back to the same situation. Employers, therefore, are having to offer higher wages, especially to women, in order to lure people back to work. 

Hence, women’s wages ever so slightly outpaced men in February, 4.4% to 4.1%, according to the Atlanta Federal Reserve’s wage tracker, for the sixth straight month. In the hospitality sector, median wages increased 4.8% compared to a year ago.

“This group of workers [women] who experienced the worst disruption during the pandemic is now also experiencing the fastest recovery in earnings and employment,” Julia Pollak, chief economist at ZipRecruiter told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s sort of sad that we only see these reversals and any kind of narrowing in the gaps when the labor market is extraordinarily, unusually tight. But that is typically the pattern.”

Don’t Break Out The Champagne Just Yet, Sisters

Women who worked year-round in full-time jobs made just 83 cents on the dollar compared with men...up one whole penny from last year. At this rate, women would have to work 74 extra days into 2022 to catch up to what men earned in 2021. 

Did The Pandemic Make It Worse For Women?

More than 1.1 million women left the workforce during the pandemic, accounting for 63% of all jobs lost according to the National Women's Law Center. The share of women in the labor force is still below its pre-pandemic level.

Although at this point, we are finding out that women who switch jobs are also reaping significant pay increases. About 31% of women who changed jobs during the pandemic got a compensation package, including salary and bonus that was more than 30% higher than in their previous roles. That slightly exceeds the 28% of men who reported such a pay increase, according to the Conference Board, a private research group.

So, as we inch along the path to pay equity, let's hope it doesn't take another devastating pandemic to help women advance the ball down the road a few more feet.

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