National Committee on Pay Equity
Profile of the Gender Wage Gap by Selected Occupations
For the Year 2000

According to an analysis of data in over 300 job classifications provided by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, women earn less in every occupational classification for which enough information is available.*

Even in job categories where women make up the majority of workers, men are paid more. Child care workers – of whom 98% are women -- are the fourth lowest earners, making just $265 a week. They are paid less than amusement park attendants, stock handlers, vehicle washers, workers in pest control, and almost every other category. Child care workers are slightly ahead of cleaners and servants ($262), private household workers ($264) and food counter workers ($251) – occupations that are also overwhelmingly filled by women.

Below are median weekly earnings for women and men in selected occupations. The earnings gap and earnings ratio (as a percentage) are shown, as well as the percentage of workers in each occupation who are women.

Table I...Occupations with estimated earnings of under $20,000**

1. * Data were analyzed using 2000 Household Data Annual Averages, Bureau of Labor Statistics
   ** Approximate Annual Earnings categories were estimated by multiplying median weekly wages for men by 52 weeks

Table II...Occupations with estimated earnings between $20,000 and $34,000

Table III...Occupations with estimated earnings above $34,000

Table IV...Other Occupations in Which the Majority of Workers are Women

February 2001