New data out from the U.S. Census Bureau shows the gender wage gap widened in 2024 for the second year in a row.  Median wages for men increased 3.7% by the Bureau’s measure, but were flat for women. 

There are lots of ways to measure the difference between what men and women earn, according to Elise Gould, senior economist at the Economic Policy Institute. 

You can compare hourly wages or annual salaries, control for factors like education and zip code or not, “and they’re all correct. They may be telling a slightly different story,” she said.

But Gould said the data consistently show a wide and stubborn gap, including the Census Bureau’s comparison of total earnings by year-round, full-time workers. 

“As of 2024, full-time women are paid only 80.9% of what full-time men are paid,” Gould said.

It makes for the second annual decrease in a row. 

“I mean it’s obviously depressing to see,” said Betsey Stevenson, a professor of public policy and economics at the University of Michigan at the University of Michigan.

One factor behind that backslide could be return-to-office policies, causing working mothers to accept lower-paying jobs in exchange for flexibility — the latest iteration of a well-worn family dynamic that drives the gender pay gap. 

“We end up in this really difficult spiral where women are paid less than men, so it makes sense for them to be the one to leave work early to pick the kid up from day care,” Stevenson said.

She added that access to affordable childcare and flexible workplace policies for all parents would help narrow the gap.