Gender Wage Study
In 1993, Iowa Workforce Development (then the Department of
Employment Services) conducted a survey to determine if there
was a gender gap in wages paid. The results of that survey indicated
that women were paid 68 cents per dollar paid to males.
We felt a need to determine if this relationship of wages paid
to each gender has changed since the 1993 study. In 1999, the
Commission on the Status of Women requested that Iowa Workforce
Development conduct research to update the 1993 information. A
survey, cosponsored by the Commission on the Status of Women and
Iowa Workforce Development, was conducted in 1999.
The results of the survey showed that women earned 73 percent
of what men earned when both jobs were considered. (The survey
asked respondents to provide information on a primary job and
a secondary job.) The ratio for the primary job was 72 percent,
while the ratio for the secondary job was 85 percent. Additional
survey results detail the types of jobs respondents had, the types
of companies for which they worked and the education and experience
levels. All of these characteristics can contribute to these ratios.
While the large influx of women into the labor force may be
over, it is still important to look at such information to determine
if future action is needed. We present these results with that
goal in mind.
We are indebted to those Iowans, female and male, who voluntarily
completed the survey.
This study was completed under the general direction of Judy
Erickson. The report was written by Shazada Khan, Teresa Wageman,
Ann Wagner, and Yvonne Younes with administrative and technical
assistance from Michael Blank, Margaret Lee and Gary Wilson. The
Iowa State University Statistical Lab provided sampling advice,
data entry and coding and data analysis.
Gender
Wage Study
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