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8 Stats that Expose the Gender Pay Gap

8 Stats that Expose the Gender Pay Gap

Actress Jennifer Lawrence recently made headlines, not for her latest movie role, but for discussing a problem facing women around the world: The gender pay gap.

Last week, the Hunger Games star penned an essay expressing frustration at how much money she made compared to male actors in Hollywood. (Warning: it contains some strong language.) She describes first seeing the pay information when hackers released hundreds of emails from Sony executives, revealing that many of her male co-stars made significantly more than women. She wrote that she was mad at herself for not being a better negotiator, but said she was concerned about being labeled a “spoiled brat” in the process. She continued, “For some reason, I just can’t picture someone saying that about a man.”

Her frustration is well-founded. In Hollywood, like the rest of the workforce, women earn less than men for doing the same jobs.

J-Law’s letter has drawn renewed attention to the gender pay gap—a problem that persists in economies around the globe.

Here are eight stats that show the continuing prevalence of gender income inequality.

50

The number of U.S. states where women make less than men.

Zero

The number of countries where women makes as much as men at the same job.

25

The number of nations in the entire world where women have the same educational access as men.

7%

The gender pay gap between men and women just a year out of college.

50%

The percentage that men with professional degrees in the U.S. make more than women with professional degrees by the time they reach their late 30s.

81 Cents

The amount, on average, women earn for every dollar made by men. (Other studies put that number as low as 77 cents.)

40

Number of extra days women in America would have to work to make as much as men.

70

The number of years the U.N. says it will take for the gender pay gap to close.

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