Most Recent Look Now Five Years Old

The most recent comprehensive look at pay by gender within the government came in a 2009 report from GAO stating that the gap narrowed over time, mainly because the men and women in the federal workforce are more alike in characteristics related to pay. From 1988 to 2007, the gender gap declined from 28 cents to 11 cents on the dollar, GAO said, and for each year studied, “all but about 7 cents of the gap can be accounted for by differences in measurable factors such as the occupations of men and women and, to a lesser extent, other factors such as years of federal experience and level of education.” The report said that increasing percentages of women work in higher-paying occupations such as professional positions, while some lower-paying jobs in which women were concentrated, such as clerical jobs, have been shrinking in numbers. GAO said its findings neither supported nor refuted the idea that there is wage discrimination based on gender in the government.