The size of the earnings gap between men and women has not changed substantially in recent years. The sustained earnings differential contrasts significantly with recent gains women have made in the job market. Several factors contribute to the wage differences: (1) The majority of women are in lower-paying occupations and lower-status jobs even though increasing numbers are in higher paying occupational groups, (2) the rise in women's labor force participation has resulted in larger proportions of women who are in or near entry level, (3) the type of education received is often different so that the marginal return on a similar educational investment is greater for men than women, (4) women generally put in less overtime; however, statistics show considerably less earned for like amounts of overtime work than men, and (5) women often have fewer years of experience than men in similar jobs; again, statistics show that as beginning workers, men receive better financial offers than women. Additional earnings differential factors include age, race, marital status, U.S. region, and industrial concentration. Studies have shown, however, that even after adjusting for such factors, much of the female earnings differential remains unexplained. Data indicate that women experience unusual difficulty in getting hired and promoted. (Eight tables, constituting a major portion of the report, compare the earnings of women and men showing mean income and distribution by various occupational groups and highlighting differentials by age, race, marital status, and region.) (FP)