With childcare disruptions, deep unemployment, and job changes, women in New Jersey have faced turbulent economic prospects worse than men’s along several dimensions throughout the pandemic. However, New Jersey women are no stranger to economic inequities as the gender wage gap continues to persist. This gap gets particular attention each year on Equal Pay Day.
Ultimately, the overall gender wage gaps in New Jersey did not worsen during the pandemic, but when disaggregating gender wage gaps by racial and ethnic groups, it is clear that wage gaps became deeper among some groups and improved in others. And while closing wage gaps is generally good news, the gender wage gap measure does not tell the whole story, especially in that it is limited to measuring the wages of full-time year-round workers.