For women who have continued in the workforce, however, wage growth has accelerated in recent years. Inflation-adjusted wages for women working full time have been steadily increasing over the last decade. In 2012, women had a median inflation-adjusted wage of $43,074. That figure had increased to $46,196 by 2020, and in 2021 alone, women’s median wages jumped 6.6% to $49,263. Meanwhile, median wages for men saw a similar jump from $56,751 in 2020 to $60,428 in 2021—an increase of 6.5%. As a result, the wage gap between full-time female and male workers remained steady at approximately 18.5%.
This wage growth has taken place despite the fact that many of the occupations with the highest concentration of female workers pay relatively little compared to other professions. Health services and education jobs are overwhelmingly filled by women, and women are also overrepresented in clerical roles like administrative assistants, clerks, and legal support workers. While some occupations in these fields, like registered nurses, deliver good wages, many others pay below the national median. For example, more than nine in 10 preschool teachers are women, and they typically earn $30,210 per year.
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