New research shows gender pay gap slowly shrinking in US, what about Utah?
Mar 10, 2025, 10:27 AM
Pew Research Center data shows that, nationally, women now make 85 cents to every dollar that men make. (Canva)
(Canva)
SALT LAKE CITY — The gender pay gap is slowly narrowing nationally, according to recent data from the Pew Research Center. However, Utah still has a lot more work to do.
The data shows that, nationally, women now make 85 cents to every dollar that men make. That’s a 4 cent increase from 81 cents 20 years ago. But in Utah, women only make a little over 70 cents.
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Dr. Susan Madsen, founding director of the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University, said Utah consistently ranks at the bottom for equal pay between men and women.
“Right now the WalletHub ranking puts us at dead last, meaning that we have the biggest pay gap in the nation.”
Madsen said one of the hurdles of this issue is the ongoing misconception that women don’t need raises and that their income is “supplementary.”
“We haven’t made a lot of progress for lots of years in terms of shrinking that. That’s because it’s actually quite complex.”
Madsen said there are a lot of factors that play into the pay gap and there isn’t a magic bullet solution.
However, she said she has hope and thinks legislation requiring salary transparency could help. Madsen said that would help educate women on what they’re really worth in their positions and give them the power to negotiate.
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