This June marks the 60th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act, which mandated equal pay for equal work and sought to eliminate gender-based disparities in compensation. Signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, this historic legislation recognized that women’s work—and their fair and equal treatment in the workplace—is vital to our country’s economic prosperity. This post highlights the significant strides in educational attainment, employment, and pay that have been made since the law was enacted and calls attention to gender gaps that remain in important aspects of employment.

First, the good news: women have made great progress in the workforce since 1963. Labor force participation for prime-age (ages 25 to 54) women—whose employment decisions are less likely to be affected by schooling and retirement—grew throughout the latter half of the 20th century, and the gap between their participation and that of prime-age men shrunk to less than one-third of its previous size (figure 1). In fact, prime-age women’s labor force participation hit a record high in the recent May employment situation report (data series began in 1948).

That said, the progress in prime-age women’s labor force participation seen in earlier decades has slowed in the 1990s, and even experienced periods of decline since the 2000s. With the exception of young people in the labor force, participation gaps between men and women have remained largely the same since the early 2000s.

And,...

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