According to a new study presented last week at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston the pay gap between young men and women is shrinking. Economist Joyce P. Jacobsen attributed the smaller pay gap to a rise in women's income due to increased education, more work experience, and more women earning graduate or advanced degrees, and an overall decline in earnings for U.S. males, because of the economic downturn. Jacobsen also noted that compensation for women continues to lag in high-paying, traditionally male professions such as law and medicine.
See Diane E. Lewis, Chicago Tribune, March 9, 2004