Is the gender pay gap a myth? | Richard Reeves

Oct 9, 2025

Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and expert on inequality, explores the complexities of the gender pay gap. He explains that while the gap has narrowed, the decline in women's earnings post-children plays a significant role. Reeves argues that discrimination is not the primary culprit anymore; instead, it's about work patterns and occupational choices. He advocates for innovative policies like paid leave for both parents and flexible career options to help level the playing field and promote shared parenting responsibilities.

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INSIGHT

Progress In Closing The Gap

The gender pay gap measures the difference between the median man and median woman earnings and has narrowed from 64¢ to 82¢ on the dollar.
Forty percent of women now earn more than the median man, up from 13% in 1979, showing substantial progress.

INSIGHT

Discrimination Is No Longer The Main Driver

Discrimination used to explain much of the pay gap but is now a smaller factor due to equal pay laws and women's labor-market gains.
The bigger drivers today are occupational differences and child-rearing patterns rather than employer pay discrimination.

INSIGHT

The Parenting Penalty Explained

Before children, men's and women's earnings trajectories look very similar, but women's earnings drop sharply after having kids.
Reeves calls having a child the economic equivalent of being hit by a meteorite for women's careers while men's earnings continue rising.

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Author Richard Reeves debunks multiple gender pay gap myths, on both sides of the debate. The gender pay gap has narrowed significantly over the last few decades, with 40% of women now earning more than the median man. But the gap still exists. Why? The main driver is no longer discrimination but rather the different patterns of work between men and women, says Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Women's earnings decline significantly after having children, as they take more time out of the labor market or work part-time during critical career development years. To further address the gender pay gap, Reeves argues that society should reduce the impact of time away from the labor market, redesign career ladders for more flexibility, and encourage shared parenting responsibilities. Policies such as paid leave for both parents and support for fathers' involvement in childcare are crucial to achieving true gender equality, says Reeve.

Chapters: 0:00 What is the gender pay gap? 1:13 Is it caused by discrimination? 2:01 Is it a myth? 3:07 “The economic equivalent of being hit by a meteorite” 4:20 How to fix the parent gap 6:14 The deep problems of equality ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- About Richard Reeves: Richard V. Reeves is a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, where he directs the Future of the Middle Class Initiative and co-directs the Center on Children and Families. His Brookings research focuses on the middle class, inequality and social mobility. Richard writes for a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, Guardian, National Affairs, The Atlantic, Democracy Journal, and Wall Street Journal. He is the author of Dream Hoarders (Brookings Institution Press, 2017), and John Stuart Mill – Victorian Firebrand (Atlantic Books, 2007), an intellectual biography of the British liberal philosopher and politician. Dream Hoarders was named a Book of the Year by The Economist, a Political Book of the Year by The Observer, and was shortlisted for the Goddard Riverside Stephan Russo Book Prize for Social Justice. In September 2017, Politico magazine named Richard one of the top 50 thinkers in the U.S. For his work on class and inequality. A Brit-American, Richard was director of strategy to the UK’s Deputy Prime Minister from 2010 to 2012. Other previous roles include director of Demos, the London-based political think-tank; social affairs editor of the Observer; principal policy advisor to the Minister for Welfare Reform, and research fellow at the Institute for Public Policy Research. Richard is also a former European Business Speaker of the Year and has a BA from Oxford University and a PhD from Warwick University. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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