The pay gap between American men and women widened in a “statistically significant” way for the first time in two decades, according to a report released Sept. 10 by the U.S. Census BureauOpen in a new tab, but experts urge against viewing that finding in a vacuum.

Census Bureau data — which compared income from 2022 and 2023 for full-time, year-round U.S. workers — showed real median earnings increased by 3%Open in a new tab to $66,790 for men and 1.5% to $55,240 for women. That dropped the women-to-men earnings ratio from 84% in 2022 to 82.7% in 2023. The last time the gap increased to that degree was 2003. READ MORE