A Detailed Examination of the Gender Wage Gap in United States

The purpose of this paper is to study the recent trend of the gender wage gap in United States and underlying reasons that cause the change. The data I use is from 2000 to 2014. I use OLS method to estimate the coefficients of variables and Oaxaca and Blinder decomposition method to study the gender wage gap. The research result shows that the gender wage gap in United States has a clear downward trend in this period. Also, I find that occupational segregation benefits women and reduces the gender wage gap. The sticky floor effect and glass ceiling effect both exist, but the latter one is more significant. The findings suggest that the government should encourage women to invest more in education, especially in fields of study that require high skills