According to an online poll of 8,566 American adults conducted in March, nearly half of men (46%) believe that the pay gap “is made up to serve a political purpose,” rather than being a “legitimate issue.” And about a quarter of men ages 18 to 34 (24%) say that media reports of men and women being paid unequally are “fake news,” one option provided in the poll. Overall, 62% of Americans believe that men make more money than women for similar types of work, with men and younger Americans most likely to incorrectly say that there is no gap in pay.
According to the latest data from the U.S. Census Bureau, women in America are on average making about 81 cents for every dollar than a man makes. April 2, 2019 is Equal Pay Day, a date chosen to symbolize how far into the year a woman must work in order to make what a man did the year before.
