"The Pay Gap Is a Myth" Say 3 in 10 Americans

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Mar 15, 2022, 08:55 ET

More men than women think that the pay gap is a myth, finds poll by Trusaic for "Equal Pay Month"

LOS ANGELES, March 15, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Nearly three in 10 Americans (28%) think that the pay gap is a myth, suggests a new poll.

This is the most striking finding of a survey of 1,000 adults by pollsters Ipsos, on behalf of Trusaic, a provider of equal pay compliance software.

"This shows how much confusion and controversy still surround the pay gap," says Matt Gotchy, Trusaic's EVP of Marketing.

The poll's results are published to mark both Equal Pay Day on March 15 and National Equal Pay Day on April 12 and the unofficial "Equal Pay Month" between the two dates.

43% of respondents disagree that the pay gap is a myth, while 29% neither agree nor disagree.

The findings reflect the answers of a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults to the question: "To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statement? The pay gap is a myth."

More male (36%) than female (21%) and Black (34%) than White (27%) respondents think the pay gap is a myth.

The best-known pay gap is the gender pay gap between men and women. This term commonly refers to the fact that U.S. women still, on average, earn 18% less than men.

There are, however, also large race/ethnicity pay gaps – plus pay gaps faced by those at the "intersections" between genders and race/ethnicities: between, say, a White man and a Black woman.

The fact that women on average earn 82 cents for every $1 men earn is known as the "unadjusted" or "uncontrolled" gender pay gap – the average gap across all jobs and industries.

The "adjusted" or "controlled" gender pay gap, meanwhile, measures to what extent men and women receive equal pay for equal work (after adjusting for any potentially legitimate business reasons that employers have for paying them differently).

"This adjusted pay gap is smaller than the unadjusted one," says Matt Gotchy. "But it's still both real and significant."

There is no authoritative, national figure for the adjusted gender pay gap, since "compensable factors" that determine pay vary by employer. The precise figure for any given employer requires a pay equity audit.

The best broad estimates, however, based on various indicators, suggest that the percentage for the adjusted gender pay gap is somewhere in the low single digits overall but significantly higher in the worst cases.

About Trusaic: Trusaic is a leading HR and compliance technology company that focuses on advancing social good in the workplace by solving HR's most complex challenges across people, data, and compliance. Our mission is to create a better working world – by helping organizations achieve pay equity, foster a more diverse and inclusive workforce, assist economically disadvantaged individuals with finding work, and ensure employee access to affordable healthcare.

Media Contact:
Matt Gotchy
[email protected]
(213) 814-5760

SOURCE Trusaic