During World War II, women were urged to be patriotic by filling in for men who had been called to serve in the military leaving critical jobs open. Women worked to make sure factories continued to produce the materials needed for war and at home. In 1943, over 310,000 women were employed in the aircraft industry, making up 65 percent of its workforce. The "Rosie the Riveter" campaign urged women to do the munitions work that men had been doing. Yet, their pay for the same work was never more than 50 percent of what the men earned. The concern, though, was not that the women were vastly underpaid, but worry that men's wages would stay at the women's level when they returned to claim their jobs. According to male versus female employment statistics, they did not need to worry.
Comparing the percentage of males versus females in the workplace as of January 2018, 66 percent of the workforce was male, while 54.6 percent was female. (Numbers do not add up to 100 percent because of reporting differences.)
Median Salary Comparison
In the fourth quarter of 2017, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the median salary for men was $946 compared to $769 for women. Women earned 81.3 percent of the median salary for men. Median is the middle, where one half earned more, and one half earned less.
Salaries by Age
You could say women have come a long way since Rosie's day. In 2016, women earned 82 percent of men's earnings: men's median weekly salaries were $915 to women's $749 in 2016, for men and women age 16 and up and employed full-time.
The BLS also broke down the salaries by age:
- Age 16-24 Men $512 Women $486
- Age 25-34 Men $820* Women $700*
- Age 35-44 Men $1,000 Women $839
- Age 45-54 Men $1,075 Women $836
- Age 55-64 Men $1,102 Women $830*
*Salaries interpreted from bar graph
Salaries for the Same Job
The BLS compared 120 occupations that employ men and women for the same jobs. In four jobs, women's median earnings were more than men's in 2016:
- Sewing machine operators Men $407 Women $452
- Fast food prep/servers Men $381 Women $402
- Teacher assistants Men $501 Women $525
- Counselors Men $892 Women $907
Women earned nearly as much as men – 97 to 99 percent of men's salaries – in the following fields: store clerks, order fillers, shipping, receiving, traffic clerks, receptionists, information clerks and advertising and sales agents.
In 2015, the last time a full tally was taken by the BLS, 39.2 percent of managers were women. Certain occupations had more female than male managers: medical and health services, human resources, social and community service, education, public relations, fundraising, advertising and promotion, lodging, property, real estate and community association managers.
Financial managers were nearly equal: 50.4 percent male to 49.6 percent female.
Jobs that have far more male than female managers are: computer and IT (72.8 percent male); agricultural (76.1 percent male); architectural and engineering (92.6 percent male) and construction (93.3 percent male).
Husbands and Wives
In 2015, both husbands and wives were employed in 48 percent of families. Only husbands were employed in 19.8 percent of families, and only wives were employed in 7.1 percent of families. There was no mention of whether or not the families had children.
- BLS: TED: The Economics Daily: Women's and Men's Earnings by Age in 2016
- BLS: TED: The Economics Daily: Women's Median Earnings 82 Percent of Men's in 2016
- BLS: TED: 39 Percent of Managers in 2015 Were Women
- BLS: TED: Husband and Wife Employed in 48 Percent of Married-Couple Families
- History: American Women in World War II
- BLS News Release: Usual Weekly Earnings of Wage and Salary Workers Fourth Quarter 2017
- BLS: Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey