COMP NEWS – Women in the U.S. aren’t projected to reach full pay equity with men for another 24 years, according to a new study on closing the gender pay gap.

Despite progress in closing the gender pay gap, U.S. women still earn about 15% less than men on average, and at the current pace, full pay equity won’t occur until 2048, according to an Aug. 8 report from The Josh Bersin Co., a human capital advisory firm.

 

Even in managerial positions, women earn 10% less than their male counterparts for the same roles, and the disparity persists even at the executive level. This points to a crucial aspect of the pay equity issue — the gap isn’t solely due to some organizations hiring more women for traditionally “female” and historically lower-paid jobs, according to the report.

Though the pay gap has narrowed, progress has stalled since the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an analysis of 113 U.S. organizations’ pay policies, the gap appears to be narrowing, though slowly. Since 2017, the pay gap has dropped 3 percentage points from 18% to 15%. However, no progress has occurred since 2020, when the gap remained at 15%.

 

At the manager level, the gap is closing somewhat faster, dropping 4 percentage points from 14% to 10% during the past six years. It’ll take about 15 years to close the pay gap among managers, the report said.

 

Several factors could lead to pay equity sooner, the analysis found. For instance, the European Union’s forthcoming 2026 Pay Transparency legislation will require EU companies — and those that conduct significant business in the bloc — to record and share salary information, as well as take corrective action if their gender pay gap exceeds 5%. The law includes provisions to compensate victims of pay discrimination and imposes fines on employers who violate the new changes.

To read more about US women reaching pay equity, click here.

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