Justice Ginsburg's Fight for Gender Quality Yet Unfulfilled

(18 September 2020) Today US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, known as a champion of gender equality, passed away, sending thousands to the US Supreme Court grounds to mourn her loss. The timing of her passing is noteworthy as it overlapped with the internationally recognized 'Equal Pay Day', a concept near and dear to the cause that Justice Ginsburg supported throughout her life despite wavering profess since the days of the US Equal Pay Act of 1963.

• Caregiving and other unpaid obligations, differences in occupation, management level, and years of work experience are the major contributors to the gender pay gap, according to a 2016 study from Glassdoor. Accounting for these factors almost eliminates the pay gap. By 'gap' we are referring to the fact that full-time female workers in the United States are typically paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to their male counterparts, which translates into $10,194 less per year.
• To eliminate the gap and achieve the same lifetime earnings as a white male who retires at age 67, a woman would need to work an average of 10 additional years. Black, Native American, and Latina women would need to work until 94-103 years of age to earn the same as white men, a nearly impossible feat given that the average life expectancy at birth for US women barely exceeds 80.
• Only if by stroke of 'luck' you are an Asian woman working in Delaware you might earn as much as the average white male counterpart - around $58,000 per year.

Assumptions: Workers start their careers at age 20; normal retirement age is 67; distribution of annual earnings around median is estimated based on data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.