Gender Pay Gap in Massachusetts

Massachusetts

Since 1981, women have made up the majority of college-educated adults in the United States, and yet women are still paid less than men regardless of education level. The Equal Pay Act of 1963, aimed at abolishing unequal pay between genders, has not been very successful: In 2022, for every $1 men earned, women earned an estimated 82 cents — an increase of just 2 cents since 2002. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research estimates that achieving pay equality could halve the poverty rate among working women. This could, in turn, contribute to reducing poverty among children and families. Closing the gender pay gap can help many women, especially single mothers, achieve economic stability.

Inequitable compensation is a form of gender discrimination in the workplace. In a 2017 survey, 1 in 4 women reported earning less than men for the same job. Women with higher levels of educational attainment have higher reported rates of experiencing gender discrimination at work and earning less than men performing the same job.

Unequal pay by gender affects the health and wellness of women in the workforce. A 2016 study found that women who earned a lower income than their male counterparts were more than twice as likely to have depression and four times as likely to have anxiety compared with women earning the same as or more than their male counterparts.

Income varies by both gender and race/ethnicity. It is highest among Asian and white men and lowest among Hispanic and Black women. Other differences include:

• Older women make less than younger women as a percentage of earnings of men the same age.
• Asian and white women had the highest earnings differences compared with men of the same race, with Asian women earning 79 cents for every dollar earned by Asian men and white women earning 83 cents for every dollar earned by white men.

County Health Rankings & Roadmaps recommends labor unionization as a strategy for reducing income inequality as well as improving the health and well-being of Americans overall. Labor unions increase compensation and protections for workers, and have helped expand paid family leave policies that help mothers remain in the workforce after childbirth.

The Department of Labor has multiple strategies to support women in the workplace, including:

• Recruiting and hiring more women in industries and positions where they have been underrepresented. 
• Improving working conditions and wages in female-dominated sectors.
• Reducing caregiving penalties for women.

Khattar, Rose. “Closing the Gender Pay Gap.” In Playbook for the Advancement of Women in the Economy. Center for American Progress, 2024. https://www.americanprogress.org/article/playbook-for-the-advancement-of-women-in-the-economy/closing-the-gender-pay-gap/.

Platt, Jonathan, Seth Prins, Lisa Bates, and Katherine Keyes. “Unequal Depression for Equal Work? How the Wage Gap Explains Gendered Disparities in Mood Disorders.” Social Science & Medicine 149 (January 2016): 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.11.056.