Women now hold more payroll jobs than men in the United States for only the third time in history, according to the latest data from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Despite this numerical advantage, the gender pay gap begins on the first day after graduation.
Starting salaries reveal a stark disparity
Graduates of the class of 2023 with a bachelor's degree earned an average starting salary of $59,778 for women and $72,190 for men. That translates to women receiving roughly 83 cents for every dollar earned by a male peer, before any career progression has taken place.
Why the shift in employment numbers matters
The last times women held a payroll majority were during the Great Recession around 2010 and the early months of the pandemic in 2020, both periods when a downturn reduced male-dominated jobs in construction and manufacturing. This latest crossover arrived without a recession, driven by strong growth in sectors where women are already over-represented, such as health care, education and hospitality.
Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show that over the past twelve months, employment for women grew by more than 870,000, while men lost nearly 1.5 million jobs. In August's labour report, women accounted for 158,000 of the 162,000 new positions, a share of more than 97 per cent.
Underlying causes of the persistent wage gap
Women dominate low-wage occupations, making up two-thirds of workers in those jobs and outnumbering men three to one in teaching and eight to one in nursing. They remain under-represented in higher-paying fields such as finance, construction and STEM, where they hold less than a third of the science and engineering workforce.
Research by Nobel laureate economist Claudia Goldin shows that the biggest driver of the gap is parenthood. Earnings for women typically fall after the first child and never fully recover, while men's wages continue to rise.
What the future may hold
Experts such as Laura Ullrich, director of economic research at the Indeed Hiring Lab, describe the trend as a long-term structural shift rather than a temporary swing. If the labour market continues to favour sectors where women are concentrated, the overall wage gap could persist, especially for women of colour who face even larger cumulative losses over a career.
Policymakers and employers will need to address both occupational segregation and the impact of caregiving responsibilities if the gap is to narrow. Without targeted interventions, the disparity in earnings is likely to remain a defining feature of the US workforce for years to come.