A recent report (pdf) from the American Association of University Women shows a 7% pay advantage for men after controlling for GPA, college major, occupation and other factors. Nancy Folbre has more:
[The study] shows that, on average, the female college graduates in the sample earn only about 82 percent of what the male college graduates earn, largely because they chose different college majors or decided to work for nonprofit organizations. As the study notes, women might make different choices if they knew just how costly their preferences turn out to be. One serious consequence is that young women devote a larger share of their earnings to repayment of their college loans, even though they borrowed about the same amount…. In sum, while young women are more likely than young men to graduate from college, their diplomas don’t generate equally rich rewards.
Meanwhile, Philip Cohen is surprised by a 2011 BLS report showing that "since 1999, every one of these countries [Italy, Germany, Canada, Sweden, UK, Netherlands] has seen an increase in women’s labor force participation except the United States and Japan." Cohen concludes:
I think the pattern in this figure belies the "natural rate" [of labor participation] idea. Canada and the Netherlands, for example, plowed right through the U.S. peak level. To me this looks more like there are institutional constraints that place a context-specific ceiling on women’s employment — constraints such as inadequate access to childcare, inordinate time-demands on professional workers, and the unequal distribution of unpaid work obligations.
Recent Dish on the pay gap here.
The Dish 