Gender Pay Gap Widens: Biggest Two-Year Decline Since The 1960s
After decades of progress, the gender pay gap is widening again in the U.S. Census data shows women earned less than 81 cents for every dollar men made in 2024 — down from 84 cents in 2022 — marking the first consecutive two-year decline since the 1960s. It’s the biggest gender pay gap in the U.S. since 2016.
The gender pay gap measures the difference in average gross hourly earnings between women and men across industries. It has historically been linked to marriage and having children as women often have to leave the workforce.
The same trend is seen in the recent decline. It is linked, in part, to women accepting pay cuts for more flexible jobs as more companies bring back in-person work requirements and the cost of child care soars, according to reporting from the Washington Post.
BY THE NUMBERS
Full-time in-office requirements among Fortune 500 companies jumped to 24% in Q2 2025 from 13% in 2024. President Trump ordered federal employees back to the office five days a week in January, including employees who had agreed to remote contracts.
Researchers also blame the rising cost of child care, which rose by nearly 30% between 2020 and 2024 — outpacing inflation, according to the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America.
Rolling back pandemic-era remote work policies that helped bring more women into the U.S. workforce is now driving many to leave.
What that looks like: In 2023, Courtney Clements took a $30,000 pay cut to leave her senior executive job after her company ended remote work. Instead, she took a remote job recruiting IT workers, which allows her to spend more time with her daughter.
Earlier this year, the number of mothers in the workforce with children under five years old reached its lowest point in more than three years.
Bigger picture: More women work in education, nursing, and childcare — industries have traditionally paid less than those that men dominate in. Still, women earn less than men in all of the 20 most common jobs for both genders.
According to 2023 data from the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, the pay gap ranged from nearly 29 cents less per dollar for female financial managers to about 2 cents less for female cashiers.