Data shows women's wait for equal pay has increased since 2018 from 202 years to 257

Women have long been fighting for equal rights and gender parity. In terms of income inequality, the United Nations reports that “women only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by men,” even when they have the same qualifications and the work they do is of the same caliber as that of men doing the same job. That’s measuring white women against white men. Specifically for women of color, in some demographics the gap is even higher: They make an average of 53 cents and 61 cents.

According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2020 released last week by the World Economic Forum, women will achieve equal pay in 257 years. Yes, you read that right: It will take more than two centuries to end the gender wage gap. The report used data measured from 153 countries on politics, economics, health, and education disparities. For the 107 countries that the report has evaluated every year since its start in 2006, it predicted based on trends that the gap in the four categories listed “will close in 99.5 years.” But the overall number of years until parity, according to the report, has increased significantly, from 202 years in last year’s estimate to 257 years this year, NBC reported.

“Lack of progress in closing the Economic Participation and Opportunity gap leads to an extension of the time it will be needed to close this gap. At the slow speed experienced over the period 2006–2020, it will take 257 years to close this gap,” the report read. "None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children.”

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We've got centuries of inequality ahead.📕 Read more in the Global Gender Gap Report 2020: https://t.co/YtGeseIGMY #gendergap20 pic.twitter.com/dbOeIf15Iu

— World Economic Forum (@wef) December 17, 2019

The top-ranked countries in terms of bridging the gender gap were Iceland, leading the fight for gender parity for the 11th year in a row, followed by Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Nicaragua. “All the top five countries have closed at least 80% of their gaps, and the best performer (Iceland) has closed 82% of its gap so far,” the report says. Lack of progress in income and underrepresentation in business and political leadership roles contributed to the U.S. falling back two ranks this year. The U.S. currently ranks 53, despite having a population of highly educated and qualified women.

According to Census Bureau data, women in the U.S. with bachelor’s degrees earn on average 74 cents for every dollar men make; this inequality is even higher amongst minorities and those without higher education. The U.S. currently ranks 26th in economic opportunity, another rank that has gone down significantly; in 2006, the U.S. ranked third. The data also indicates that women with college degrees are younger than their peers without them, resulting in a larger pay gap due to a lack of experience in the workforce and years to go before they reach their pay peak. As more women join the workforce and obtain higher education, it is estimated that the gap will decrease with growth in opportunity.

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