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5 Surprising Gender Pay Gap Statistics Hiring Managers Need to Know In 2021, women still earn less than men for their work—and according to the statistics below the pay gap is getting worse, partly thanks to the pandemic. Gender discrimination, racial discrimination, the devaluation of a women’s work, and lack of benefits are just a few of the many systematic issues working against women on their path to equal pay in the workplace. These long-standing issues were only exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which set women’s equal pay back even further. Here’s how to better understand the gender pay gap—and five surprising gender pay statistics that all hiring managers need to know. What Is the Gender Pay Gap? The gender pay gap refers to the difference in net pay between women and men. That difference in earnings is calculated in a number of different ways, but the consensus is that women consistently earn less than men, and that gap is wider for women of color and people living intersectional realities, like transgender women or immigrants. What Causes the Gender Pay Gap? It’s important to keep in mind how the wage gap is calculated. It’s calculated to reflect the ratio of earnings for men and women across all industries. Not all calculations are a direct comparison of men and women doing the same work. The way the wage gap is calculated allows experts to take into account multiple factors that influence the gap, including: Differences in Industry When you calculate the holistic pay gap, researchers can better examine how occupational segregation affects the pay gap. Occupational segregation refers to men and women working certain jobs due to gender norms and expectations. Women may tend to work in childcare or healthcare, which tend to pay less, while men might work in manufacturing or IT . That’s why attracting a diverse workforce is so important for your company. Differences in Experience Women carry a disproportionate burden to manage childcare and other unpaid family obligations, and as a result they’re driven out of the workforce. Access to paid family and medical leave makes women more likely to return to work, but not every woman has access to such benefits. Differences in Hours Worked Women may work fewer hours to accommodate for caregiving and family obligations. They’re often more likely than men to work part-time, which means fewer benefits and lower wages. Discrimination and Harrassment Gender-based pay discrimination has been illegal for decades, but unfortunately, it’s still a widespread practice, especially for women of color and people living in intersectional realities. Employers may distribute pay based on previous salary history, which may have been the result of discrimination following women job to job. Much of the reasons behind the gender pay gap revolve around systematic workplace policies that don’t do enough to uplift women and make them feel safe. To fight discrimination, it’s important to have a transparent workplace where women feel as if they can come to managers and HR professionals to speak about issues. Likewise, it’s crucial to have an anonymous whistleblowing system in place to ensure all employees have a secure channel to report issues without fear of reprisal, and sexual harassment training and to help prevent discrimination and harrassment before it happens. 5 Surprising Gender Pay Gap Statistics The global effects of the pandemic have had a serious, damaging effect on women and their road to equality, even with the benefits of remote working . Women earned just 84% of what women earned in 2020, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers. Based on those numbers, women had to work an additional 42 days to earn the same amount as men in 2020. Image Source The pandemic had a huge negative impact on the pay gap. Layoffs and lack of child care made many women leave the workforce entirely. In February 2021, the women’s labor force participation rate was just 55.9% , down from 57.9% the previous year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Women of color and those working in lower wage occupations suffered the most. According to The World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the gender gap grew by more than 35 years in just 12 months. At this rate, it’ll take 135 years to close the gender gap across the world. The gender pay gap is far worse for women of color. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, Black women with a bachelor’s degree make 65% of what comparable White men do. Education isn’t enough to close the pay gap: Black women with advanced degrees earned just 70% of what White men with the same degrees earned. Women’s gross hourly earnings were, on average, 14.1% lower than those of men in the EU in 2019, according to Eurostat .