Women's wages lower than men's

MAT-SU -- Women earned 66.4 percent as much as men in 2001, wrote Alexander Kotlarov, a labor economist for the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development. In a September 2003 Alaska Economic Trends report, Kotlarov describes the ratio of women's earnings as a percent of men's as the "gender gap."

Nationally, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the gender gap between men and women is 76 percent, comparably higher than Alaska's 66.4 percent. Alaska's percentage is slightly lower than it was in past years; in 1999 the gender gap was 66.8 percent.

Alaska's gender gap is larger in the private sector than in the public sector; it sits at 62 percent in the private sector, and 76 percent in local and state government employment. The average female earnings in 2001 were $21,644, the average male earnings were $32,618. Women earned around $11,000 less than men in Alaska; in 1999 they earned $10,000 less.

Dillingham had the smallest gender gap percentage in 2001; women earned 100 percent as much as men. Denali Borough held the largest gap; women earned only 38 percent as much as the men in the borough. The Mat-Su area ranked somewhere in the middle, with women earning 74 percent as much as men.

The top five occupations for women in Alaska are retail salesperson, office clerk, cashier, bookkeeper, accounting and auditing clerks and teacher assistants. The top five occupations for men in Alaska are construction laborer, material mover, retail salesperson, carpenter and janitor. According to Trends, these top occupations have remained unchanged from prior years.

The following is a breakdown of the average earnings by industry in Alaska for 2001:

Natural resources and mining: Male -- $64,451, Female -- $43,305

Construction: Male -- $31,855, Female -- $21,929

Manufacturing: Male -- $26,233, Female -- $14,988

Trade/Transportation/Utilities: Male -- $30,528, Female -- $17,226

Information: Male -- $45,563, Female -- $31,469

Financial activities: Male -- $33,863, Female -- $26,668

Professional and business services: Male -- $32,064, Female -- $21,791

Education and health services: Male -- $34,709, Female -- $25,904

Leisure and hospitality: Male -- $13,066, Female -- $9,877

Other services: Male -- $21,825, Female -- $17,586

Local government: Male -- $30,783, Female -- $25,252

State government: Male -- $40,296, Female -- $28,935

According to Trends, ideas to why the gap between men and women earnings includes career choices, difference in full-time verses part-time work, level of education or training, and years of work experience. Most factors cannot currently be measured. Although some have argued that discrimination pays a role in the earning differences, Trends reads that there is insufficient data to support that claim.