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Though these are the major racial and ethnic divisions for which the U.S. government routinely provides pay breakdowns, it's important to recognize that the figures can obscure substantial variation within those groups. For instance, among Asian women in the United States, women of Indian and Chinese descent are on average paid better than the typical white man, but Burmese, Hmong, and Laotian women on average are paid significantly less -60 percent or less of what white men are paid (National Partnership for Women and Families, 2018). AGE Earnings for both female and mate full-time workers tend to increase with age, though earnings increase more slowly after age 45 and even decrease after age 55. The gender pay gap also grows with age, and differences among older workers are considerably larger than differences among younger workers. In 2017, for full-time workers ages 20-24, women were paid 90 percent of what men were paid on a weekly basis. As workers grow older and progress in their careers, median earnings for women grow more slowly than median earnings for men, resulting in larger gaps for women (figure 5). Women 55-64 years old are paid 78 percent as much as men in the same age range, a gap that is more than double the gap for women ages 20-24. $1,200 $1,000 S800 $600 $400 $200 $0 FIGURE 5: Median Weekly Earnings, by Gender and Age, 2017 ■ Women ■ Men XX% Women's earnings as a percentage of men's earnings S1,062 $1,103 $1,098 16 to 19 years 20 to 24 years 25 to 34 years 35 to 44 years 45 to 54 years 55 to 64 years 65 years and older Note: Based on median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers, 2017 annual averages Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2018c) DISABILITY Disability status is a challenging demographic to capture because it includes many different disabilities and conditions. In the current ACS questionnaire, disability is measured by answering questions related to six disability types: hearing, vision, cognitive, ambulatory, self-care, and independent living (U.S. Census Bureau, 2017). People with disabilities are paid significantly less than people without a disability. In 2017, median pay for women with disabilities was 72 percent that of men with disabilities; women with a disability made 48 percent as much as men without a disability (figure 6). (These data include all workers regardless of full-time or year-round status.) 43) THE SIMPLE TRUTH ABOUT THE GENDER PAY GAP 1 Fall 2018 Edition AAUW • www.aauw.org