A new government report found that women have made few inroads into management positions over the past decade and still face a persistent pay gap with their male counterparts. The findings, released today by the Government Accountability Office, and reported in the New York Times, showed that in 2007, the latest data available, women accounted for about 40% of managers in the U.S. work force. That number is up just slightly from 2000, when women held 39% of management positions.
Meanwhile, the pay gap between male and female managers-–especially those who are parents–still remains strong. Among the managerial ranks, women full-time managers earned 81 cents for every dollar earned by male full-time managers in 2007. However, female managers fared worse if they were mothers; managers who were mothers earned 79 cents of every dollar paid to managers who were fathers, after adjusting for things like age and education. This gap has stayed the same since at least 2000, the Times reported.
Perhaps as a result of this “motherhood penalty,” female managers are less likely to have children—or even be married– than male managers. In 2007, 63% of female managers were childless, compared with just 57% of male managers. Of those managers who did have children, men on average had more children than their female counterparts.
And female managers were also less likely to be married than male managers, at rates of 59% vs. 74%, respectively.
“When working women have kids, they know it will change their lives, but they are stunned at how much it changes their paycheck,” said N.Y. Democratic Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, who requested the report, to the Times.
How do women fare in the managerial ranks at your employers? Are the female managers you know less likely to have children or be married than their male counterparts?
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