Why Women's Pay Is Growing Faster Than Men's
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
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How has wage growth for women changed since the pandemic began?
Here's your Money Briefing for Wednesday, April 6th. I'm J.R. Whelan for The Wall Street Journal. As the post-pandemic economy recovers and workers return to the labor market, we're seeing a sea change in the nation's workforce. Wage growth for women is outpacing that of men.
The workers who are typically on the margins, so lower-wage workers, women, minorities, tend to benefit the most from a tight labor market.
Sarah Cheney Kambon covers labor economics for the WSJ. Coming up, we'll talk with her about what's driving the shift and the jobs where women are seeing the biggest jump in pay. That's after the break.
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The average pay rate for American women rose by 4.4% in February, compared to a 4.1% pay bump for men. That's a significant shift from earlier in the pandemic, when the rate of wage growth for women trailed men. So what's behind the reversal? And how is it affecting the gender pay gap? Sarah Cheney-Kambon covers labor economics for the WSJ, and she's with us now to break down the numbers. Sarah, thank you so much for being here.
Thanks so much for having me, JR.
So Sarah, this higher wage growth for women, it's been going on for a few months now, but can you put it into context for us? How different is this current trend from what we saw earlier in the pandemic? And what's behind the shift?
Earlier on in the pandemic, male wage growth was significantly outpacing female wage growth. As recently as last summer, male wages were rising 3.6%, while female wages were rising 3.2%. And a lot of the recent strength we've seen in female wage growth has to do with the different types of jobs that women occupy versus men. Women tend to dominate the lower wage service sector jobs, which have seen really big gains over the past several months.
All right, so let's talk about those jobs.
Which jobs and industries are driving faster pay growth for women?
In which areas have women seen the most pay growth?
There are primarily lower wage service sector jobs in personal care. So think massage therapy jobs and food preparation. So that's like a cafeteria worker and also healthcare support, which includes jobs like home healthcare aid. And all of those professions saw really steep cuts at the beginning of the pandemic. But then last year, as businesses reopened, They were in desperate need of workers and they lifted pay in a lot of those industries where women account for a dominant share of occupations. While women in these lower wage occupations have seen strong wage growth, the wage growth has not been broad based across every industry. I spoke with the chief economist at job site ZipRecruiter, and she made an important point that the workers who are typically on the margins, so lower wage workers, women, minorities, tend to benefit the most from a tight labor market.
But as she said, it's sort of sad that we only see these sorts of reversals when there is such a tight labor market.
Why did lower-wage service jobs see steep pay increases after reopening?
Now, how has the so-called great resignation, you know, people leaving jobs in record numbers, how has that affected women in particular?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:35
2
How has wage growth for women changed since the pandemic began?
0:35–3:03
3
Which jobs and industries are driving faster pay growth for women?
3:03–4:23
4
Why did lower-wage service jobs see steep pay increases after reopening?
4:23–5:38
5
How has the Great Resignation affected women's pay and job switching?
5:38–7:08
6
What factors caused many women to leave the labor force early in the pandemic?
7:08–7:47
7
What do women say they need from employers to return to work?
7:47–8:13
Speakers
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