Young women are more devoted to their careers than men, new Pew Research Center data found. According to the study that came out last Thursday, young women place greater importance on having a high paying career than men. Two thirds (66 per cent) of women surveyed age 18 to 23 years old said that a successful and high-paying career is “one of the most important” or “very important” in life. This is compared to 59 per cent of men of the same age.
This is a major change from the last survey which was conducted in 1997, when the women’s answers were 10 per cent points lower.
The new data does not mean women have given up on other aspects of life, however. On the contrary, more young women place importance on a successful marriage than they did before. The same number has fallen for men.
“The share of women ages 18 to 34 who say that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things in their lives has risen nine percentage points since 1997, from 28% to 37%. On the other hand, the share of young men ages 18 to 34 who say that having a successful marriage is one of the most important things has dropped from 35% in 1997 to 29% now.”
More women than men have been pursuing higher education for decades, and women are getting closer than ever of making up half of the labour force.
Older women, however, have not been reaping the benefits of change. While women will begin their career on par with men on earnings, the number suffers a precipitous decline as they get older. A Bureau of Labour Statistics study found that in 2010, young women earned 95 cents to the dollar compared to men, while women aged 55 to 64 earned 75 cents to every dollar a man earned.
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May Jeong is Toronto Standard’s business editor. Follow her on Twitter @mayjeong.
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