Despite major educational gains for women, the wage gap between men and women hasn't changed since the start of the millennium, according to two recent studies.

One study found that women only make 82 cents to every man’s dollar in 2022. That’s despite women earning 42% of college degrees compared to men’s 32% as of 2020.

While it isn’t clear why the gender gap persists, there could be one compelling reason: having a family.

Senior researcher and author of Pew Research Center's “The Enduring Grip of the Gender Wage Gap”, Rakesh Kochhar, has studied economics for thirty-six years. He told Yahoo Finance that the gender gap has persisted because of a “motherhood penalty”.

“The gender wage gap coincides with parenthood. When women transition to motherhood, there is an increase in the gender wage gap,” Kochhar said.

The dad premium

Kochhar said that because of a double standard, women’s wages stagnated and didn’t match their male counterparts. Fathers have made much more than mothers — what Kochhar called a “ fatherhood premium.”

“Fathers tended to earn more because they worked more hours. They worked on average 40 hours a week, while mothers worked 37 hours a week. Employers rewarded fathers who had children at home and fathers earned more than women who did and didn’t have children at home,” Kochhar said.

Age was also a factor in women lagging behind men. The Pew study found that as women entered into their peak childbearing years of 25-34, they earned less than men— about 92% of men’s wages. However, as women in the 35-54 age range earned 83% as much as male workers.

Also, Kochhar said: As women leave and re-enter the workforce, they lose ground to men who never left the workforce. The study found that mothers ages 25-44 earned 85% as much as fathers. Women with children at home ages 45-54 earned 81% as much as men with children at home.

Racial gaps

In addition to age gaps, there are also racial differences in the gender wage gaps. The Pew study found that white women earned 83% of what white men earned. Kochhar said that minority female workers fared worse. Black women earned 70% and Hispanic women only earned 65% was much as white men.