New Census Report Shows a Huge Gender Gap in Income in the United States

The U.S. Census Bureau has released its annual report on income and poverty in the United States. According to data in the report, the median income of households headed by a single woman in the United States in 2015 was $37,797. These households made up 19 percent of all family households in the United States. The median income figure shows the point where half of all families earn below this level and half earn above this level.

For households headed by a single man in 2015, the median income figure was $55,861. For married-couple families, the median income was $84,626. Thus, the median income level for family households headed by a single woman was 67.7 percent of the median income for family households headed by a single man and 44.7 percent of the median income of married-couple families.

For single women living alone, the median income in 2015 was $29,022. For single men living alone, the median income was $40,762. Thus, single women had a median income of 71.2 percent of the median income of single men.

These figures show a persisting large gender gap in incomes in the United States. The fact that nearly one fifth of all family households are headed by a single woman and that these households have incomes far below the national average, is cause for major concern.

The full report, Income and Poverty in the United States, 2015, may be downloaded by clicking here.