The gender wage gap is real, but it differs widely depending upon the profession assessed, according to new census data. Among the professions with the widest wage gap between men and women? Farming.
This is particularly alarming, because the number of female farmers is growing. Data garnered from the USDA’s Economic Research Service indicates that woman-operated farms more than doubled between 1982 and 2007. Approximately 14% of the nation’s farms are run by women, who now comprise about 30% of all U.S. farmers. And the data shows that many female operators are going into smaller, more sustainable and diversified operations that focus on direct sales to communities.
Becky Yerak (@beckyyerak) reports for The Chicago Tribune:
Among those professions where the wage gap between the sexes is the widest: securities, commodities and financial services sales; farmer and rancher; and economist.
Women in those lines of work earn 55 percent, 61 percent and 69 percent of male workers. Those margins of error range from 5 to 10 percent.
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