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Tyler Currie, Mitch Emerson, Dillon Emory, Tony Jones
Wages since 1970 have increased around the United States and millennials are earning more than baby boomers once did. There have been many variables that have influenced changes in wage differentials, therefore it is important to determine which variables have had the most significant effects dating back to 1970. This study is of interest because it allows us to understand the societal and economic changes as a result of millennials entering the economy, thus giving policymakers better insight into the future. Throughout analytical and literature research, we have concluded how gender, the labor force participation rate, returns to college, intergenerational mobility, and unions have affected wage differentials during this period.
Gender Wage Differentials
Gender wage gaps and whether or not this still exists is important when looking at the differences between the wages from the 1970s until now. Gender wage gaps have been around since women entered the workforce in the 1920s when there was legislation passed allowing women to work with their male counterparts. From this time until about 1960 differences in pay between men and women were apparent. Not until the 1960s was there legislation put in place that required equalized pay for both men and women that worked in the United States. But is there still a wage gap today? Discussed in this section of gender wage gaps we shed light on our findings of whether or not a wage gap still exists, the reversal of the education gap between males and females, and how the labor force participation rates of women have impacted wage differentials since the 1970s.
- Gender – Education
The wage gaps between men and women have been largely reduced between the 1970s until now. Female wages increased when new legislation was put into place by the US government. This legislation was implemented to try and equalize pay between men and women in the 1960s. It wasn’t until the 1980s when females made a bigger jump, closing the earnings gap between the two genders. “Specifically, gains in the female/male wage ratio were largest in the 1980s and occurred at a slower pace thereafter, with the ratio rising from 62 to 64 percent in 1980 to 72 to 74 percent in 1989, with a further increase to 79 to 82 percent by 2010” (Blau and Kahn, 793). The pay ratio between men and women is about par for women that are part of the lower or middle class in more recent decades, where it takes a little bit of a turn is for women who are towards the top-earning percentile, and this can happen for a number of reasons. The tightening of wages ratios can be linked to female investment in human capital and going to college. Over this time period between 1970 to the present more women have been pushing off having a family, and have been increasing the investment into college and learning. The percentage of undergraduate enrollment of females in the United States is now higher than that of male