New Census Report Finds a Persisting Gender Gap in Earnings

The U.S. Census Bureau has released a new report on income and poverty rates in the United States. The data shows that for 2011, there were 58 million men who were year-round, full-time employees compared to 43.7 million women. Men who worked full-time, all year round had average earnings of $48,202. For women the average earnings for year-round, full-time workers was $37,118. Thus, women on average earned about 77 cents on the dollar compared to men.

The Census Bureau also reported that women were more likely to live in poverty than men. In 2011, 16.3 percent of all women in the United States were poor, compared to 13.3 percent of men. The gender gap in poverty rates increases as women get older. For women over the age of 65, 10.7 percent of women were poor, compared to 6.2 percent of men.

More than 31 percent of families with a woman as a single-parent were classified as poor in 2011. For families with a man as a single parent, 16.1 percent were poor in 2011. For married-couple families, only 6.2 percent were poor.