10 Jobs With the Biggest Pay Gap Between Men and Women

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I often dream about what career my 4-year-old daughter will have. But those musings are tainted by the knowledge that unless things change, my daughter (and yours) will be earning less than men who are doing the same work.

This is the 21st century, and although the United States has made considerable strides in closing the gender pay gap, women are still paid less than their male counterparts. How much less? According to 24/7 Wall St., on average in 2014, a full-time female employee earned just 82.5 percent of what a male was paid.

But the gender pay inequality is even worse in many jobs. For instance, female personal financial advisers made a mere 61.3 percent of what males were paid in 2014, earning it the top spot in 24/7 Wall St.’s list of the worst paying jobs for women, as determined by the gender pay gap.

Ariane Hegewisch, a study director at the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, said gender pay gap is most pronounced in traditionally high-paying occupations and professions where females are the minority.

High-paying jobs often have flexible pay packages that allow for extra income (commissions, bonuses, merit pay), and more often than not, men benefit more from those extras.

24/7 Wall St. said:

These extra earnings are most common in financial occupations. Personal financial advisers, financial services sales agents, and financial managers all had among the 10 worst pay gaps, as well as relatively high median weekly earnings for men and women. The more forms of extra earnings available, Hegewisch explained, “the more scope there is for bias and discrimination.”

Here are the jobs with the biggest pay gaps between men and women:

  1. Personal financial advisers: Women earn 61.3 percent of what men are paid.
  2. Physicians and surgeons: 62.2 percent.
  3. Securities, commodities and financial service sales agents: 65.1 percent.
  4. Financial managers: 67.4 percent.
  5. Top executives: 70 percent.
  6. Retail salespersons: 70.3 percent.
  7. Human resources managers: 71.2 percent.
  8. Bartenders: 72.4 percent.
  9. Real estate brokers and sales agents: 73.3 percent.
  10. Driver/sales workers and truck drivers: 73.7 percent.

In the World Economic Forum’s 2014 Global Gender Gap report, which included 142 countries, the U.S. ranked 65th – sandwiched between Trinidad and Tobago and Yemen – when it comes to gender wage equality.

It is beyond comprehension that women continue to be paid less than men for the same work. But talking about it openly is a step in the right direction. It makes it harder to ignore.

Have you experienced wage inequality based on your gender? Share your comments below or on our Facebook page.

It’s important for all adults to plan for their eventual retirement. But as Money Talks News’ Stacy Johnson explains in this video, it is even more important for women.

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