The good news is that the gender wage gap is shrinking among
America's youngest workers. But don't start planning the farewell to wage
disparity party just yet. The gap still widens as responsibility levels
increase, according to a new study from PayScale and Millennial Branding.
After accounting for factors like job title, experience,
industry and tenure, the difference in overall median pay between men and women
millennial workers is 2.2% ($51,000 vs. $49,000). This age group, defined in
the study as those born 1982-2002, are more likely to hold entry-level
positions, where the gap is smaller.
Among baby boomer workers, the overall gap is 2.7%, and it's
the widest among Generation X colleagues at 3.6%. But the smaller disparity is a
good sign for young workers, since early starting salaries set the earnings
pace for an entire career.
While a narrowing pay gap is good news at any level, it's
not necessarily due to women demanding higher pay. At the executive level, the
wage gap increases to 6.2% among boomers, 7.4% for Gen Xers and 4.9% for
millennials.
The employment situation has been tough for millennials,
with many of them entering the workforce in the midst of the Great Recession
that wiped out nearly nine million jobs. While the economy has since recovered
the jobs, competition remains tight and underemployment remains a problem—especially
among the highly educated.
When it comes to corporate loyalty, age also comes into
play. Forty-five percent of millennials think the ideal length to stay with an
employer before finding a new job is two to three years, and 26% said a year or
less is acceptable. Meanwhile, 41% of baby boomers said five years or more was
an acceptable job tenure, while only 13% of millennials thought they should
stay at a job for that long before finding a new gig.
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