A new study from the Economic Policy Institute finds that the gender wage gap begins for students immediately after they graduate from college. The study found that women with college degrees earn $4 less per hour than their male peers early in their careers, and the gap is widening.
Women with a college degree earn an average hourly wage of $16.58, according to the study. Young men with a college degree, earn an average of $20.94 an hour – $4.36 more than young women with a college degree. This results in a $9,000 annual pay gap.
The gender earning gap is wider for those with a college degree compared to those with only a high school education. Young women with a high school diploma but no college earn 92 percent of the pay of similarly educated men. Yet young women with a college degree earn only 79 percent of the pay earned by similarly educated men.
The study, The Class of 2016: The Labor Market Is Still Less Than Ideal for Young Graduates, may be downloaded by clicking here.