A Woman’s Paycheck Is Influenced by Her Hometown—Even If She Doesn’t Live There Anymore
In a new study, economists find women from places where sexist attitudes prevail end up earning less later in life.
At this point, the fact that women in the United States earn about about 80 cents to each dollar earned by men is so commonly known that it’s become both a perverse, if slightly tired, punch line and a litmus test in the culture wars.
But there’s plenty of variation under that top-line statistic. The wage gap between male and female wages—which doesn’t sound like a lot, but adds up to more than $2 billion a year nationwide. In Montana, women earn 73 cents to the dollar on average; in Louisiana, they earn 69 cents.
