Women earned roughly half the income of men over a 15-year period, taking into account time off for family or child care, according to a report released on Wednesday, which found the pay gap is far greater than has commonly been assumed. In an examination of women’s income from 2001 to 2015, the Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that women’s income was 51 percent less than men’s earnings, which includes time with no income. Despite considerable progress over the last 50 years, 43 percent of today’s women workers had at least one year with no earnings, nearly twice the rate of men. Policies like paid family and medical leave and affordable child care can increase women’s labor force participation and encourage men to share more of the unpaid time spent on family care, the study emphasizes. Credit: Institute for Women’s Policy Research
