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Employment & Earnings

Financial dependence is the single biggest reason women stay in abusive relationships.

Females represent 49% of the employed workforce in Essex County but continue to earn significantly less than men.  These earnings disparities are consistent with state and national averages. In most areas, women’s median earnings are down and men’s earnings are up since 2010.

• Median earnings for full-time, year-round working females (16+ years of age) are $44,409, about 74% of male’s median earnings ($60,377).
  
  
• However, when you broaden the category to all workers – full-time and part-time, skilled and unskilled – wage disparity increases further.  Median earnings for women (16+ years of age) are $32,256, 64% of median earnings for men ($50,311).
  
  
• Wage disparity occurs across all civilian employment sectors. 

Private Sector:

Wage disparity has increased since 2010.  The small wage gains that had been made by women in the past few years have been lost in the private sector this last year.  Women’s median earnings have decreased, in some cases significantly, in the private for-profit and not-for-profit sector.  In contrast, men’s median earnings have increased in all sectors, except self-employed.

Fewer women than men have been hired during the recovery.  Men have regained jobs faster than women even in areas that have traditionally been more strongly female including retail and education.  In the private sector, hiring has increased significantly for men and is down for women – salary patterns, as mentioned above, have matched this.

Government Sector:

Only in the government sector have women’s earnings increased.  (Men’s earnings have also increased in federal and state levels and decreased in the local government sector). Women’s employment has also been impacted by government downsizing.  In the last several years, women have been equally represented or slightly dominant in the government sector (particularly local) which has recently faced more cutbacks.  With potentially more government cutbacks on the horizon, women’s salaries and total employment are projected to decline further. 

Higher education does produce higher median earnings for women but at lower levels than for men.

• Median earnings for women with graduate or professional degrees are $59,253, 63% of male median earnings of $93,738;
  
  
• Median earnings for women with a Bachelor’s degree are $43,178 60% of male median earnings of $71,903;
  
  
• Women with a high school education or equivalent average $25,224 median earnings, 62% that of male median earnings of $40,999;
  
  
• Women with less than high school education average $16,574 median earnings, 67% that of male median earnings of $24,696.

Not surprisingly, the percentage of all families living below the poverty line declines as the number of workers per family increases.  However, the percentage of female householder families living below the poverty line is significantly greater than other family categories irrespective of the number of workers per family.  

• Despite many misconceptions, only 14% of female householder families have no wage earner.  Sixty-nine percent of these families live below the poverty level.  Unfortunately, this percentage is increasing with increasing female unemployment.
  
  
• 55% of the female householder families (22,736 families) are supported by 1 wage earner, most frequently the householder herself.  Twenty-seven percent of these families live below the poverty level. In contrast, 22% of married couple families have 1 wage earner with 6% living below the poverty line.
  
  
• 31% of female householder families are supported by 2 or more wage earners, typically the householder herself and an adult child and/or grandparent living in the home. Nine percent of these families live below the poverty level.