Big gender gap in Louisiana salaries

A new report on wage differences between the sexes found that Louisiana had the biggest gap between what college-educated men and women earn. According to the AAUW, a woman with a college education who works full-time earns an average of $42,500, or 65% of what a college-educated man makes in Louisiana. For full-time workers over the age of 16, the average woman in Louisiana makes 67% of what men make. Only Wyoming, West Virginia, North Dakota and Montana had a bigger pay gap. The smallest pay differences among all workers was in the District of Columbia, Vermont and California, where women made 85% of what men earned. College-educated women in Vermont earned 87% of what men make, making that the narrowest gap between those with degrees. The AAUW, which is lobbying for legislation to establish pay equity between men and women, say the pay gap could cause women to miss out on between $500,000 to $1 million in salary and benefits.