Women Who Make More

The first chapter of SuperFreakonomics, and a recent Q&A, addressed the pervasive male-female wage gap, but there does seem to be one subset of women who make more money than their male peers. “In 2008, single, childless women between ages 22 and 30 were earning more than their male counterparts in most U.S. cities, with incomes that were 8% greater on average, according to an analysis of Census Bureau data,” reports the Wall Street Journal. The gap is driven by factors like higher female college graduation rates, the increasing wage premium for college degrees, and disappearing jobs in male-dominated fields. Consistent with earlier findings, the data also indicate that “women tend to see wages stagnate or fall after they have children.” [%comments]