Globally and in most countries, men earn more than women on average, creating a gender pay gap where women earn less for similar work or in overall earnings, though this varies by age, industry, and location, with some data showing young women in certain areas slightly out-earning young men, while the gap widens significantly with age and in higher-paying sectors like tech and finance. This gap stems from factors like occupational segregation, discrimination, fewer promotions for women, and the "motherhood penalty," where women take more time for childcare.
The gender gap in pay has slightly narrowed in the United States over the past 20 years or so. In 2024, women earned an average of 85% of what men earned, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.
Oxfam's new Davos report reveals that globally men now own US$105 trillion more wealth than women – a difference in wealth that is more than four times the size of the entire US economy.
Although men report greater financial stability, women are more cautious when shopping. Men are more likely than women to enjoy shopping for themselves (78% versus 70%). And a higher rate of men (51%) have fallen into debt due to nonessential spending, compared with 42% of women.
The average female annual earnings is around 80% of the average male's. When variables such as hours worked, occupations chosen, and education and job experience are controlled for, the gap diminishes with females earning 95% as much as males.
70% of the Nation's Poor are Women & Children
Women in America are still 35 percent more likely than men to be poor in America, with single mothers facing the highest risk.
In the context of billionaires, there is a significant gender gap in the number of men and women who hold this status. According to recent data on the world's billionaires list compiled by Forbes (2022) [7], the vast majority of billionaires are men, with only 12% of them being female.
Men have 2 percent more credit card debt than women. Men have 9.7 percent more mortgage debt than women. Men have 20 percent more personal loan debt than women. Women have 2.7 percent more student loan debt than men.
Women tend to live longer than men. In 2021, this difference amounted to a 5-year gap in global life expectancy: the average life expectancy was 73.8 years for women versus 68.4 years for men.
Research shows that women, on average, experience chronic pain more frequently, more intensely, and for more extended periods than men. In addition, many chronic pain conditions – from fibromyalgia to rheumatoid arthritis, migraines, and IBS – are predominantly diagnosed in women.
The pyramid shows that: half of the world's net wealth belongs to the top 1%, top 10% of adults hold 85%, while the bottom 90% hold the remaining 15% of the world's total wealth, top 30% of adults hold 97% of the total wealth.
In humans, the natural sex ratio at birth is slightly biased towards the male sex. It is estimated to be about 1.05 worldwide or within a narrow range from 1.03 to 1.06 males per female at birth.
Women are statistically outperforming men in various categories, but this has not always been the case. For centuries, boys seemingly held the upper hand in various facets of life like academics and careers. However, a shift is underway, with girls increasingly outperforming boys in education and the workforce.
Since 1990 in the U.S., there has always been more men than women working at full-time status. In 2024, there were 74.86 million men working full-time compared to 58.51 million women.
Myth: Women are more likely to spend more money
The Bureau of Labor Statistics' 2021 Consumer Expenditure Survey showed single men spent an average of $2,365 more than women, spending more than double on alcoholic beverages plus higher averages on car and entertainment purchases.
Women are paid less than men for many reasons—including gender discrimination in hiring and workplace policies, lost earnings potential when leaving the job market to take care of children, and insufficient worker protection laws.
Women around the world report higher levels of life satisfaction than men, but at the same time report more daily stress.
"What we have found is that women, in many different tasks, process information about five times faster than men, and use much less of their brain to do identical cognitive performance."
Women reported more worry than men on two measures of the tendency to worry, as well as more worries about lack of confidence issues. Women also reported a more negative problem orientation and engaging in more thought suppression, a type of cognitive avoidance.
Approximately three-quarters of Black- and White-headed families have debt, but the median debt-to-asset ratio is 50% higher among Black than White families (Copeland, 2020), with Black borrowers less likely to fully repay loans (Brevoort et al., 2021).
Choose Your Debt Amount
Credit cards are convenient, but if you don't stay on top of them, your debt can get out of control. If your credit card debt has reached $30,000, that should be a big-time wake-up call.
Michael Sheen has written off £1 million ($1.29 million) of debt for 900 people using £100,000 ($129,000) of his own money. The Welsh star, famed for roles in Good Omens, Twilight and more recently, A Very Royal Scandal, has started a debt acquisition company to help the group in his native south Wales.
Andrew Carnegie famously said, “90% of all millionaires become so through owning real estate.” Is that true? I've actually used this quote before in some of my content and firm materials, but Carnegie said it over 100 years ago.
Yes, Kim Kardashian is generally considered richer than Taylor Swift, though both are billionaires, with Kardashian often leading due to her successful businesses like SKIMS, while Swift's wealth comes from music, tours (like The Eras Tour), and films. Recent reports (late 2025) place Kardashian's net worth around $1.9 billion, slightly ahead of Swift's $1.6 billion, though these figures fluctuate.