Women in the US earned only US$0.73 for every dollar men were paid in 1999, though the gap narrowed during the 1990s, according to census figures.
Women gained roughly US$0.07 on the dollar over the 10-year period, according to the Census Bureau's long form. Figures were released Tuesday.
The figure does not necessarily mean that women are being paid less than men for doing the same job. Instead, the census looked at earnings in 1999 for full-time workers in all industries and found that the national median income for men was US$35,922 and US$26,292 for women.
Experts said the main reasons for the wage gap are that women often take time off to have children and lose experience and pay because of it; that women often choose lower-paying professions, such as teaching and social work; and that women are discriminated against when it comes to promotions and raises.
Karen Nussbaum, assistant to the president of AFL-CIO in Washington, said a recent study by her group attributed about half of the wage gap to discrimination. One of the biggest reasons for the narrowing of the gap was that many high-paying manufacturing jobs held by men were lost as the industry declined in recent years, she said.
Colin Bennett, a labor economist for the Employment Policy Foundation, said the gap is more complicated than bias. Bennett projected that the wage gap could close within 30 years as women continue entering high-paying jobs.
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