Fifteen percent of Americans don’t believe there’s a gender pay gap, according to new research.
A survey of 2,000 Americans (split evenly by men and women) asked respondents about the pay gap — revealing that men were twice as likely as women to say it didn’t exist (21% vs. 9%).
That’s despite data from the U.S. Census Bureau, which shows the gender pay gap not only exists but has recently worsened for the first time in two decades.
Conducted by Talker Research ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, the survey dug into these findings and spoke to several experts to hear their thoughts on the pay gap.
“We need to actually talk to women and ask them what they are experiencing. What I have found is that people, men in particular, are often surprised by the things women are subjected to at work,” said Tara Ceranic Salinas, PhD, who is a professor of business ethics and the department chair of management at the University of San Diego’s Knauss School of Business.
“When I have shared some of my research findings with men in terms of negative experiences women have had in the workplace, they are shocked,” said Salinas. “When you aren’t experiencing something yourself, it isn’t on your radar.”
The survey found that not only were men more likely to dismiss the existence of the gender pay gap, but there were also major differences depending on a respondent’s political identification.
The results revealed that a quarter of Republicans surveyed (24%) don’t believe there’s a gender pay gap, compared to 7% of Democrats polled.
“The pay gap exists, whether people believe it or not,” said Salinas. “Countless studies have shown that after controlling for time at the job, previous experience and industry women are simply paid less than their male counterparts.”
Data from the U.S. Census Bureau also shows that the pay gap is greater for marginalized workers. Overall, full-time female workers earned an average of 83 cents for every dollar a white man earned in 2023. Black women earned 66 cents, while Latina women earned just 58 cents to the dollar.
An analysis by the HRC Foundation revealed that LGBTQ+ workers are also more greatly impacted by the pay gap — the analysis found that women in the LGBTQ+ community earn 87 cents for every dollar the typical worker earns, and this drops to 60 cents for trans women.
“The gender pay gap isn’t just a statistic — it’s a story of systemic inequities that compound for marginalized women,” said Naomi Clarke, head of HR at Flingster. “The gap persists because we’ve treated it as a ‘women’s issue’ instead of a business risk. Companies lose $1.2M annually for every 100 employees due to turnover linked to pay inequity.”
Three in 10 women (31%) said their gender has held them back in the workplace. And 46% of women surveyed have watched a male co-worker receive a promotion when they believe a more deserving female co-worker was passed over.
This doesn’t seem to be changing, either, as Gen Z was the most likely to have seen this happen (52% vs. 39% of baby boomers).
Salinas echoed what Clarke said, adding, “Organizations have to be willing to assess what they are doing and be transparent. Any company could eliminate the pay gap today if they decided to by simply ensuring that everyone doing the same job is receiving the same compensation.
“Organizations need to consider the message that they are sending to their employees. When someone realizes they are being paid less for doing the same job as someone else, they are immediately demotivated, frustrated and likely looking for a new job,” Salinas said. “Employee turnover is a huge annual cost for organizations so if it’s possible to avoid that cost by ensuring equal pay it makes sense financially and ethically.”
Unfortunately, respondents don’t believe the gender pay gap is going to be closed anytime soon.
Thirty-eight percent of respondents do not believe the pay gap will be closed within their lifetime — with women more pessimistic than men (45% vs. 31%).
Younger generations were slightly more optimistic, though, as 40% of Gen Z respondents believe the pay gap will be closed in their lifetime, compared to just 26% of baby boomers.
“The pay gap won’t close until we stop asking women to ‘lean in’ and start demanding workplaces step up,” said Clarke. “For us, equity isn’t a metric — it’s a mandate.”
Survey methodology:
Talker Research surveyed 2,000 Americans split evenly by gender; the survey was administered and conducted online by Talker Research between Feb. 26–28, 2025.