The Gender Pay Gap
No matter how you analyze it, the gender pay gap is real, persistent and harmful to women’s financial well-being.
Get the Facts - 2025 UPDATE
More Than a Paycheck
Women working full time in the U.S. are paid 83% of what men earn. At the current rate of change, we won’t achieve pay equality until 2088.
AAUW’s research shows that a gap exists at all levels of work in almost every occupation. There is a gender pay gap in every state. It cuts across all age groups and demographics, widening significantly for women of color. The gap greets a woman as soon as she gets out of college and grows wider throughout her lifetime.
Women’s Wealth
And it’s not just annual earnings: The pay gap also contributes to the wealth gap. It makes it difficult for women to amass savings, build wealth and achieve economic security. Overall, the median wealth of single women was $36,000 and $43,800 for single men in 2019. And the wealth gap is even wider for women of color, who have just pennies for every dollar a white male has.
Deeper in Debt
The consequences of this gap affect women throughout their lives. While women outpace men in earning bachelor’s, master’s and advanced degrees, they take on greater debt to pay for their education. In 2019, Women held nearly two-thirds of the outstanding student debt in the United States — almost $929 billion. As of 2024, women now hold 65% of $1.6 trillion in student debt. Because of the gender pay gap, women have a harder time repaying loans, meaning women’s debt burden compounds as time goes on.
What can we do?
Fighting for change
Unfortunately, there’s no magic bullet or quick fix. Though the status of women has dramatically improved in recent decades, the lingering inequity is the result of historical, societal and political legacies that persist today. Outdated norms about gender roles run deep in our culture: They affect the paths that girls and women pursue throughout their education; expectations about their roles as mothers and caregivers; laws, policies and legacies that favor men; and flat out discrimination, bias and misconduct that hinder women’s advancement. These all add up to an unacceptable reality that AAUW is fighting to change.
AAUW believes achieving pay equity requires a multi-pronged approach:
- We need strong state and federal laws focused on ensuring equal pay for all American women.
- Employers need to commit to continuous improvement and to enacting policies and practices that will help put women on par with men. Read more about how equal pay is good for business.
- Women individually need to advocate for themselves: They need to negotiate for the best possible pay and benefits and pursue higher-paying jobs, promotions and leadership opportunities. Learn more about AAUW’s salary negotiation and financial literacy programs.
AAUW Partners with NSF on Advancing Pay Equity in Higher Education
Joining forces with AAUW, the NSF ADVANCE Partnership Project “Let’s Talk Money” takes aim at bringing gender equity to higher education compensation. Rooted in AAUW’s commitment to dismantling equity barriers for women and girls, “Let’s Talk Money” aims to expand knowledge of best practices for faculty pay to the higher education community by:
• Building understanding of university pay-practices and outcomes.
• Incorporating an equity lens into pay-decisions.
• Expanding productive conversations about pay.
• Improving communication of pay decisions.
Take Action
There are lots of ways to get involved with AAUW’s work to advance gender equity. Together, we can make a difference in the lives of women and girls.