ECU students and staff comment on the latest U.S. Census Bureau report showing widening Gender Gap

GREENVILLE, N.C. (WITN) -The pay difference between men and women is a gap many in the workforce believe to be continuing to close.

However, an annual report from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that women made 83 cents to every dollar a man made in 2023, which is less than the historic high of 84 cents in 2022.

“It’s frustrating. We want a change. Women should make as much as men,” ECU Psychology student Aaliyah Finnell said. “We’re doing the same work. We’re doing the same jobs, like we might as well right?”

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, this is the largest the gap has been in 20 years.

ECU Sociology Professor Kristen Myers says the gap becomes even broader when race is taken into account.

“Native American women, their equal pay day isn’t until November 21st. So it takes them almost a whole year to make what an average man did,” Myers said.

Myers said equal pay day symbolizes how long into the year a woman must work to make the same amount of money an average man made the previous year.

“There’s lots of family dynamics, old school history, perceptions of how men and women should be, that really is based on an ideal that may not be real. But it still informs how employers make decisions and salaries,” Myers said.

Many economic experts believe the COVID pandemic contributed to the recent increase in the wage gap, and they say it’s too soon to tell if it’s a temporary condition or the beginning of regression for equal pay.