Women earned 76.5 cents for every dollar that men did last year, moving no closer to narrowing a gender pay gap that has barely budged in almost a decade.
去年，男性每赚1美元，女性赚76.5美分，因性别差异产生的收入差距并无缩减。在差不多10年时间里，这一差距几乎没变。
Male full-time workers notched median annual earnings of $49, 398 in 2012, compared with $37, 791 for female workers, according to a Census Bureau report Tuesday. In 2011, women earned 77 cents for every $1 men earned.
美国人口普查局(Census Bureau)周二发布的报告显示，2012年全职工作的男性年收入中值是49,398美元，全职工作的女性年收入中值是37,791美元。2011年，男性每赚1美元，女性赚得77美分。
The wage gap narrowed steadily through the 1980s and 1990s but the convergence slowed in the early 2000s. That may signal that two factors credited with advancing gender pay parity -- education and legislation -- lost some of their firepower.
上世纪80年代和90年代，男女工资差距曾稳步缩小，但在本世纪初，缩小的步伐有所放缓。这或许预示着推动男女同酬的两个因素──教育和立法──失去了一些火力。
'Women's increasing education is certainly a plus, but it's not enough to totally change these trends, ' said Francine Blau, an economics professor at Cornell University. 'The really golden period was the 1980s, when the wage gap was consistently narrowing. Since then, progress has continued, but it has been more fitful and uneven.'
康奈尔大学(Cornell University)经济学教授布劳(Francine Blau)说，女性受教育程度不断提高当然是有利因素，但还不足以完全改变这些趋势。她说，真正的黄金时期是在上世纪80年代，当时男女收入差距持续缩小；此后，虽仍取得进展，但却是间歇性的，且不均匀。
In 1980, women earned 60.2 cents for every $1 men did; by 1990, that had climbed to 71.6 cents. During that time, women were pursuing more education, breaking into higher-paying occupations and racking up more hours on the job. They also were benefiting from the 1963 Equal Pay Act, as well as measures granting equal access to education and prohibiting sex discrimination.
1980年，男性每赚1美元，女性赚60.2美分。到1990年，女性所赚的这个数字提高到了71.6美分。那时，女性不仅追求高学历，还开始进入高收入职业，并大幅增加工作时间。此外，她们也获益于1963年的《同酬法案》(Equal Pay Act)以及给予平等教育机会、禁止性别歧视的措施。
The most recent data reflect that younger workers are making inroads. In 2012, women between 15 and 24 years old earned 88 cents for every dollar that men did; the amount fell to 81 cents for women ages 25 to 44, and 74 cents for women ages 45 to 64.
周二发布的最新数据显示，较年轻的工作者给较年长的工作者带来了影响。2012年，男性每赚1美元，15岁至24岁女性赚88美分，25岁至44岁女性赚81美分，45岁至64岁女性赚74美分。
Although women now outnumber men in U.S. colleges, economists cite a number of reasons why pay differences persist. Among them is time, with women on average working fewer hours than men, often to care for children or other family members.
虽然美国高等院校里女生人数多于男生，但经济学家仍对薪酬差异何以长期存在给出了多种原因。时间是原因之一，因为女性的工作时间通常比男性少，她们常要去照顾孩子或其他家人。
Analysts caution that the annual earnings comparison is a crude measure of a complex reality. The raw wage-gap figure doesn't reflect meaningful nuances such as whether women negotiate their pay as much as men do, which can influence earnings over an entire career. The pay comparison also fails to capture intangibles such as health-care benefits as well as some women's choices to forgo salary in favor of fulfilling work and more flexible schedules.
分析人士警告称，对男女年收入进行比较是对复杂现实的粗略衡量。这种工资差异的原始数据并不能体现出重要的细微差别，如女性对薪资的磋商是否像男性那样多（这可影响一个人整个职业生涯的收入情况）。此外，这种比较薪酬的方法没有将无形资产纳入考量，如医疗福利和一些妇女为完成工作和更灵活的安排而放弃收入的选择。
The pay gap persists in part because men are more likely to pursue college majors and advanced degrees in fields that lead to higher-paying careers.
工资差异长期存在的部分原因是，男性上大学攻读学士及以上学位的可能性更大，那些专业可引领他们步入收入更高的职业生涯。
'Women are getting graduate degrees, but not necessarily in fields that give the best salaries, ' said Sarah Jane Glynn, associate director of women's economic policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal group in Washington.
华盛顿自由派组织美国进步中心(Center for American Progress)妇女经济政策副主管格林(Sarah Jane Glynn)说，女性开始获得硕士学位，但不一定是那些最热门、毕业后收入最高的专业。
Discrimination remains a factor, albeit one that is difficult to document and measure. Michael Tanner, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute in Washington, a libertarian think tank, said, 'There's no doubt that some level of residual discrimination exists out there.'
歧视仍是造成男女收入差异的一个因素，尽管这个因素难以记录和衡量。美国自由派智库加图研究所(Cato Institute)的高级研究员坦纳(Michael Tanner)说，毫无疑问，美国目前仍存在一定程度的残留下来的性别歧视。
Meridith Pushkin, a 30-year-old web designer, said she experienced such discrimination early in her career. In 2007, Ms. Pushkin and a male friend with similar education and experience both landed jobs designing web sites and creating software applications for a Denver firm. Four years later, she learned from the colleague that he earned $20, 000 more a year than she did.
30岁的网页设计师普希金(Meridith Pushkin)说，她在职业生涯早期就遇到过这样的歧视。2007年，普希金和一位与她有类似教育和经验的男性朋友都获得了设计网站的工作，为一家丹佛的公司创作软件应用程序。四年后，她从这位同事那里获悉，他每年的收入比她高20,000美元。
Ms. Pushkin didn't bring up the matter with her manager because company guidelines prohibited employees from discussing wages among themselves. She left in December and in March joined EffectiveUI, Inc., another Denver technology firm.
普希金没有向她的经理提及此事，因为公司禁止员工相互讨论工资。她当年12月离职，次年3月份加入另一家丹佛科技公司EffectiveUI, Inc.。
At EffectiveUI, 'when we discussed pay, I got offered a really fair wage, reflective of how anyone with my experience, male or female, should be paid, ' Ms. Pushkin said.
普希金说：在EffectiveUI，当我们讨论工资时，我得到了十分公平的待遇，反映出和我有相同经验的人应当得到的工资水平，无论男女。
Studies show that her experience isn't isolated. Research published last year by the American Association of University Women found a pay gap emerging one year after college. A year after graduating with engineering degrees from similarly competitive institutions, men were earning annual salaries of $55, 142 and women $48, 493. That translates into women earning 88 cents for every $1 men did.
研究显示，她的经历并不鲜见。美国大学女性协会(American Association of University Women)去年公布的研究显示，毕业一年后工资差距开始显现。从竞争力相当的学府取得工程学位一年后，男性年收入为55,142美元，而女性则为48,493美元。这意味着女性的收入只有男性的88%。
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