Even though the gender
wage gap is narrowing, women still account for a disproportionate number of low-wage
earners, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has
reported. Women were 43.6 percent of the 103.6 million full-time wage and
salary workers in 2005. Yet, according to the BLS report, they made up 43.2
percent of the lowest 25 percent of earners and just 31 percent of the top 25 percent
of earners. The largest proportion of the highest earning women, 40.4 percent,
and lowest earning women, 29 percent, worked in the education and health
services sector. The report also reflects that women have made some gains, with
the number of women in the highest 25 percent of earners increasing from 7.2
million in 2000 to 8 million in 2005. During that same time frame, the number
of high-earning males slipped from 18.1 million to 17.9 million.