Millennial women are more likely than those in older generations to say men have it easier these days
In spite of the gains women have made in the labor force in recent decades, today’s young women are no less likely than older generations to say the country has more work to do in bringing about gender equality. And Millennial women are significantly more likely than Generation X, Baby Boomer or Silent Generation women to say that men have it easier than women these days – roughly half (52%) of Millennial women say this compared with 37% or fewer among the older generations. This pattern is driven in part by the political leanings of Millennial women, 69% of whom are Democrats or lean toward the Democratic Party.
The views of Millennial women differ sharply from those of Millennial men on the question of whether changing gender roles have made it easier for women to live more satisfying lives. While 61% of Millennial men say women have benefited from these changes, only 48% of Millennial women agree. Among older generations of adults, there is no similar gender gap.
Views of the country’s progress on gender equality are linked to personal experiences with gender discrimination
Overall, about four-in-ten women (43%) say they have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their gender; far smaller shares of men (18%) say this has happened to them. Democratic women are significantly more likely than Republican women to say they have experienced gender discrimination (51% vs. 34%). Among men, it’s Republicans who more often say they have been discriminated against because of their gender (20% compared with 14% of Democratic men).
Among women who say they have faced gender-based discrimination or unfair treatment, a solid majority (71%) say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. About half (46%) of women who don’t share these experiences say the same.
And while a relatively small share of the public says the country has gone too far when it comes to gender equality, men who say they have been discriminated against because of their gender are particularly likely to hold this view: 23% among this group say it has gone too far, compared with one-in-ten men who say they haven’t experienced gender discrimination.
Experiences with gender discrimination are often related to workplace practices
Among both women and men who say they have faced discrimination because of their gender, more cite situations related to hiring, pay or promotion than any other example of unfair treatment they have experienced.
About four-in-ten women (38%) who say they have experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly because of their gender cite experiences in the workplace, and this is particularly the case among older women. About half of Boomer women (51%) who say they have faced gender discrimination cite situations related to hiring, pay or promotion, compared with 36% of Gen X and 26% of Millennial women.2
Among men who say they have faced gender discrimination, experiences related to the workplace are by far the most common. About a third of these men (35%) say they were discriminated against or treated unfairly in hiring, pay or promotion. By comparison, 7% say people made assumptions about their personality because of their gender, the second-most cited example among men who say they have experienced gender discrimination.
Women have made gains in the labor force, while men have seen losses; still, inequality persists
In many ways, the workplace has represented the front lines in the battle for gender equality in the U.S. Over the past half century, the role of women in the workplace has been transformed as they have increased their labor force participation, seen their wages increase and made inroads into occupations that were previously dominated by men. Even so, women still lag behind in several key leadership realms.
Today women make up 47% of the U.S. labor force – up from 30% in 1950. The share of women in the labor force grew throughout the second half of the 20th century, but has leveled off since then. Previous analysis by the Center indicates that in the coming decades women will continue to be slightly less than half of the labor force and that their share may even dip below the current 47%.
This overall trend is linked to labor force participation, another area where women have seen tremendous growth over the past several decades – narrowing the gap with their male counterparts. In 2016, 57% of women (ages 16 and older) were either employed or looking for work. That share is higher than it was in 1980 (51%) but down somewhat from its peak of 60% in 1999.
Over the period in which women’s labor force participation was increasing, men’s presence in the labor force was on the decline, and this trend among men has since continued. In 1980, 77% of men (ages 16 and older) were employed or looking for work; in 2016, 69% were in the labor force. The falloff in men’s labor force participation has been particularly sharp among men with no education beyond high school.
Gender gaps persist in earnings and hours worked
As women have increased their presence in the labor force, they’ve seen their wages grow. At the same time, men’s wages have fallen. In 2016, women’s median hourly earnings were $16.00, up from $12.48 in 1980. Men earned a median hourly wage of $19.23 in 2016, down slightly from $19.42 in 1980. Wages have declined more sharply for young men (those ages 25 to 34) than for other age groups. In 2016, young men earned, on average, $17.31 per hour, compared with $20.81 in 1980.
Higher earnings for women and lower earnings for men have resulted in a narrower gender wage gap. In 2016, women earned, on average, 83 cents for every dollar earned by men. In 1980 women earned 64 cents for every dollar earned by men.
Still, the gender wage gap persists, and the reasons for that are complex. Women’s earnings tend to decline roughly 10 years into their work lives as many face the challenges and trade-offs that come with balancing work and family life. There are also other factors that are difficult to quantify, such as gender discrimination, the persistence of gender stereotypes and women’s limited access to male-dominated professional networks.
The gains women have made in wages have been driven in part by their increased presence in more lucrative occupations. Today, women are just as likely as men to be working in managerial occupations. In 1980, men were twice as likely as women to have these types of jobs. In the past, women were more highly concentrated in lower-paying clerical or administrative occupations than they are today.
Men still dominate top leadership positions
Even as women have made inroads in a wide range of leadership positions in recent decades, the gender gap remains quite wide in this area. Women made up roughly 5% of Fortune 500 CEOs in the first quarter of 2017 and about 20% of Fortune 500 board members in 2016. Only about 20% of members of Congress and about a quarter of members of state legislatures are women. Currently, there are six female governors and four females in executive branch Cabinet-level positions (not including those serving acting positions).
Click here for a more detailed look at data on women leaders.
Little consensus on views of the current state of gender equality
Americans across demographic and partisan groups agree that women should have equal rights with men. About eight-in-ten Americans (82%) say it is very important for women to have equal rights with men in our country, and another 14% say this is somewhat important. Just 4% of Americans say gender equality is not too or not at all important.
Asked whether the country has gone too far, not gone far enough or been about right when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, half of the public says the country still has work to do, while 39% say things are about where they should be; one-in-ten Americans believe the country has gone too far in giving women equal rights with men. These views differ by gender, education and, most of all, partisanship.
About seven-in-ten Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents (69%) say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, compared with 26% of Republicans and independents who lean Republican. In turn, just over half of Republicans (54%) – vs. 26% of Democrats – say things are about right and 18% say the country has gone too far in giving women equal rights with men (just 4% of Democrats say the country has gone too far).
Among Democrats, those with at least some college education are far more likely than those with no college experience to express dissatisfaction with the current state of gender equality. About eight-in-ten Democrats with a bachelor’s degree or more education (81%) and roughly three-quarters of those with some college (73%) say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men. A far smaller share of Democrats with a high school diploma or less education (55%) share this view. There are no significant education gaps among Republicans in views of the state of gender equality.
The survey also finds that men and women express considerably different views about the current state of gender equality, but this gender gap narrows when partisanship is taken into account. Overall, among women, far more say the country hasn’t gone far enough (57%) than say it has been about right (33%) when it comes to giving women equal rights. Men, however, are about evenly divided: 42% say the country hasn’t gone far enough and 44% say it’s been about right.
Among Democrats, a somewhat higher share of women than men say the country has work to do to achieve gender equality, but majorities of both groups say this is the case (74% of Democratic women and 64% of Democratic men). And while Republican women are more likely than their male counterparts to say the country hasn’t gone far enough when it comes to giving women equal rights with men, relatively small shares in each group express this view (33% and 20%, respectively). About one-in-five Republican men (22%) and 14% of Republican women say the country has gone too far.
Roughly a third of adults say men have it easier in our country these days; 9% say women do
Far more Americans say men have it easier in our country these days than say things are easier for women (35% vs. 9%); still, a majority (56%) say there is no difference. Perceptions vary considerably by gender, educational attainment and partisanship.
Women are more likely than men to say men have it easier: 41% of women say this is the case, compared with about a quarter of men (28%). And while relatively few men or women say women have it easier, men are about three times as likely as women to offer this view (14% vs. 5%, respectively).
Partisanship also plays a large role in perceptions of how things are going for men and women in the U.S. Among Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, similar shares say men have it easier (49%) as say there is no difference (45%). In contrast, most Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (68%) say there is no difference, while 19% say men have it easier and 12% say women do.
Adults with a bachelor’s degree or more education are far more likely than those with less education to see an advantage for men, but this educational gap is driven entirely by differences among Democrats. About seven-in-ten Democrats with at least a bachelor’s degree say men have it easier than women in our country these days, compared with about half of those with some college (52%) and about a quarter of those with a high school diploma or less education (27%). In contrast, among Republicans, views of who has it easier are consistent across levels of educational attainment.
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