It Will Take 81 Years to Close The Gender Wage Gap

(Image credit: Archive)

published 28 October 2014

Equal pay for equal work (opens in new tab) is still but a far, far away dream, according to the World Economic Forum's 2014 Global Gender Gap Report (opens in new tab).

The WEF estimates it will take 81 years for a woman to earn as much as a man for doing the same job, a feat no country in the world has yet achieved. However, the report also found women's salaries are approaching those of their male counterparts, albeit at a glacial pace: The U.S, which ranks 65th in wage equality out of 142 nations in the report, narrowed its wage gap by one percentage point to 66 percent in one year.

In other areas of the world, women (logically) fare better and worse: Italian women only receive 48 percent of a man's salary, and those in Norway and Singapore come closest to closing the pay gap, earning 80 cents to a man's dollar. And the one place where women earn more than men? That would be Denmark, where we're seriously considering making our new home.

Related Links:

How the Pay Gap Affects You: Best States (opens in new tab)

6 Surprising Reasons You're Being Paid Less Than a Man (opens in new tab)

These Industries Have the Biggest Wage Gap (opens in new tab)

Why Young Women Should Care About Equal Pay Day (opens in new tab)

Women CEOs Experience Less Pay Gap (opens in new tab)

Image via CNN (opens in new tab)

Chelsea Peng is a writer and editor who was formerly the assistant editor at MarieClaire.com. She's also worked for The Strategist and Refinery29, and is a graduate of Northwestern University. On her tombstone, she would like a GIF of herself that's better than the one that already exists on the Internet and a free fro-yo machine. Besides frozen dairy products, she's into pirates, carbs, Balzac, and snacking so hard she has to go lie down.