Recession Didn’t Narrow Earnings Gap in Austin
12.30.2011
Catherine Rampell at the New York Times looks at the latest shift in workforce demographics in her excellent article earlier this week, Instead of Work, Younger Women Head to School. It got me thinking: what impact did the “mancession” have on the earnings gap between men and women in Austin? The answer: very little.
Men are earning, on average, about $1,800 more per month than women in Austin. As the chart below indicates, the gap does narrow during recessions, but then steadily climbs back to the $1,800-$1,900 range. The gap for new hires follows a similar trend. It exceeded $1,000 per month in 2010 for the first time since 2000.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Quarterly Workforce Indicators
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About Civic Analytics
Brian Kelsey is an Austin-based economic development consultant and former senior policy advisor at the U.S. Economic Development Administration in Washington, DC. Civic Analytics is his blog about data-driven analysis for understanding community and economic trends. Views expressed here are his own.
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