Teachers earn 21.4% less than comparable college graduates: Teacher weekly wage penalty for all teachers and by gender, 1979–2018
| All | Women | Men | All | Women | Men | All | Women | Men | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | -7.31% | 6.87% | -17.82% | ||||||
| 1980 | -9.56% | 4.82% | -20.34% | ||||||
| 1981 | -10.31% | 3.46% | -20.14% | ||||||
| 1982 | -10.45% | 3.17% | -20.54% | ||||||
| 1983 | -12.07% | 1.37% | -21.89% | ||||||
| 1984 | -10.28% | 2.82% | -20.86% | ||||||
| 1985 | -10.47% | 2.21% | -20.71% | ||||||
| 1986 | -9.04% | 3.52% | -19.53% | ||||||
| 1987 | -8.14% | 4.19% | -19.25% | ||||||
| 1988 | -8.26% | 5.45% | -19.35% | ||||||
| 1989 | -8.46% | 3.37% | -18.18% | ||||||
| 1990 | -7.98% | 4.37% | -19.05% | ||||||
| 1991 | -9.32% | 0.97% | -17.51% | ||||||
| 1992 | -7.25% | 3.42% | -16.75% | ||||||
| 1993 | -5.30% | 4.45% | -14.23% | -5.3% | 4.45% | -14.2% | |||
| 1994 | – | ||||||||
| 1995 | – | ||||||||
| 1996 | -6.30% | 0.25% | -16.23% | -6.30% | 0.25% | -16.23% | |||
| 1997 | -7.07% | 0.52% | -19.80% | ||||||
| 1998 | -9.80% | -1.97% | -21.73% | ||||||
| 1999 | -11.64% | -3.69% | -22.96% | ||||||
| 2000 | -11.56% | -4.71% | -23.05% | ||||||
| 2001 | -12.98% | -5.36% | -25.48% | ||||||
| 2002 | -12.96% | -6.28% | -24.72% | ||||||
| 2003 | -12.43% | -5.99% | -22.24% | ||||||
| 2004 | -11.96% | -5.16% | -22.88% | ||||||
| 2005 | -13.68% | -6.30% | -25.75% | ||||||
| 2006 | -15.11% | -8.27% | -26.60% | ||||||
| 2007 | -13.01% | -6.00% | -24.53% | ||||||
| 2008 | -14.55% | -7.95% | -25.40% | ||||||
| 2009 | -13.71% | -6.29% | -25.43% | ||||||
| 2010 | -13.54% | -5.91% | -25.47% | ||||||
| 2011 | -14.28% | -7.57% | -26.39% | ||||||
| 2012 | -15.51% | -9.14% | -26.41% | ||||||
| 2013 | -16.71% | -10.06% | -28.11% | ||||||
| 2014 | -17.10% | -11.14% | -26.75% | ||||||
| 2015 | -18.99% | -13.71% | -27.78% | ||||||
| 2016 | -20.23% | -12.98% | -32.46% | ||||||
| 2017 | -20.74% | -15.59% | -30.08% | ||||||
| 2018 | -21.44% | -15.12% | -31.55% |
Notes: Figure shows regression-adjusted weekly wage penalties (or premiums) for public school teachers (elementary, middle, and secondary) relative to other college graduates. (The figure shows a wage premium for women teachers from 1979–1997.) Dependent variable is (log) weekly wages with indicator controls on public school teacher, private school teacher, gender, and married, along with indicator sets on education (M.A., professional degree, Ph.D.) and race/ethnicity (black, Hispanic, other); also included are age (as a quartic) and state fixed effects. Estimates are omitted for 1994 and 1995, as imputation flags are incomplete or not available; data points for these years are represented by dotted lines (see Appendix A for more detail).
Source: Authors’ analysis of Current Population Survey Outgoing Rotation Group data