Gary Silverman, CFP®

You probably know that women earn less than men in the U.S. economy, but you may not realize that the gap is not going to close any time soon.  A study by the Institute for Women's™ Policy Research, created by a rather large team of economists and researchers, compared the discrepancy between pay for men and women today vs. last year and prior years.  Then they extrapolated the year in which the two genders would be paid the same for the same positions and work responsibilities.

The answer: the year 2058.  To put that into perspective, the FutureTimeline.net website predicts that in the same year, humans will have established a colony on Mars. 

The gender gap seems to be a cultural phenomenon.  Some states, like New York, Maryland, the District of Columbia, Vermont and Florida, have gender earnings ratios above 85%; that is, women, on average, are paid more than 85% of what men are paid.  But a woman living in Louisiana, West Virginia or Wyoming are likely to be paid less than 68% of their male counterparts'salary, according to the study.  The gap also appears to grow as people become more highly-educated.  Women who have not earned a high school diploma tend to earn 73.8% of what men with comparable jobs are making, but if men and women both have a graduate degree, the women are earning just 69.1% of men's salaries.