Even among recent college graduates, there is a large wage gap between the genders.

In 2016, men ages 21 to 24 with a college degree earn an average hourly wage of $20.94, while their female counterparts earn just $16.58, according to an analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute. This difference amounts to roughly $9,000 a year.

“We’re comparing two groups both with college degrees, similar amounts of experience,” says Elise Gould, a senior economist at EPI. “The difference is stark, it’s striking.”

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What’s more, the gender wage gap is growing: Roughly 15 years ago, young, college-educated women made 92 cents for every dollar their male counterparts made; this year, it’s 79 cents, the EPI report revealed.

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Some of this difference is likely due to their college majors and subsequent career choices. “Men are more likely than women to major in fields like engineering and computer science, which typically lead to higher-paying jobs,” write the authors of a separate 2012 report “Graduating to a Pay Gap” published by the American Association of University Women, an organization devoted to improving the lives of women.

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However, this doesn’t explain all of the difference. “One year after graduation, a pay gap exists between women and men who majored in the same field. Among business majors, for example, women earned just over $38,000, while men earned just over $45,000,” the AAUW authors concluded.

Some of this difference may also have to do with career choices. Men who major in engineering, for example, are more likely than women majors who major in it to work as engineers, the report revealed.

Whatever the reasons for the pay gap, one thing is clear: It doesn’t go away as workers age. A report from the National Women’s Law Center found that the persistent wage gap would mean that a woman will lose out on $430,480 in wages over her 40-year career.