November 03, 2005 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Differences in earnings by age and sex in 2004

Among women, 45- to 54- year-olds had the highest median weekly earnings ($625) in 2004, followed closely by 55- to 64-year-olds ($615), and 35- to 44-year-olds ($608). Men’s earnings were also highest among 45- to 54-year-olds ($857) and 55- to 64-year-olds ($843).

[Chart data—TXT]

The difference between women’s and men’s earnings was much larger among middle-aged and older workers than among younger workers. 

For instance, among workers aged 45 to 54, women earned 73 percent as much as men did. By comparison, among 16- to 24-year-olds, women earned 94 percent as much as their male counterparts did, and among workers 25 to 34 years old, women earned 88 percent as much as did men.

These data on earnings are produced by the Current Population Survey. Earnings data in this article are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. For more information see "Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2004," BLS Report 987 (PDF 196K).

 

Related TED articles:

• Women’s earnings by occupation in 2004
• Growth in inflation-adjusted earnings, 1979-2004 
• Education and earnings in 2004