Measures of gender equality in the United States have improved dramatically since 1970, but progress has slowed or stalled in recent decades, a study finds. To examine long-term trends related to gender inequality, Paula England and colleagues analyzed data from 1970 to 2018 from the Current Population Surveys, the Census Bureau, the American Community Study, and the National Center for Educational Statistics. The ratio of employment among women compared to men rose from 0.53 in 1970 to 0.85 in 1995 but remained mostly flat since then, reaching only 0.86 by 2018. One notable exception to the overall trend was that women surpassed men in receiving baccalaureate degrees by the mid-1980s and doctoral degrees by the early 2000s. Gender segregation in fields of study reached low points in 1998 and 1987 but has stalled or worsened over at least the past 20 years. From 1970 to 2017, gender segregation across occupations declined from 0.60 to 0.42, but progress has been slow since 1990. For full-time workers, the ratio of hourly earnings for women compared to men rose from 0.61 in 1970 to 0.74 in 1990, but due to slower progress thereafter, only reached 0.83 by 2018. According to the authors, the findings suggest the need for institutional and cultural change to address gender inequality.
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Article #19-18891: "Progress toward gender equality in the United States has slowed or stalled," by Paula England, Andrew Levine, and Emma Mishel.
MEDIA CONTACT: Paula England, New York University, New York, NY; tel: 650-815-9308; e-mail: pengland@nyu.edu
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences