as recently as 1979, 61 percent of female workers were in jobs that paid less than $25,000, and only 3 percent earned more than $50,000 a year.
more than 36 percent of new jobs that opened since 1979 for women pay more than $50,000 and only 17 percent pay less than $25,000.
For men, the change in employment since 1979 has not been quite as clear-cut, or as positive:
There has been a tremendous growth in the number of men in high-paying jobs; in 1979, just 10 percent of male workers earned above $75,000, while fully 34 percent of new jobs since 1979 have paid this amount or more.
However, there was also growth in the share of male workers earning less than $25,000 a year, from 23 percent in 1979 to 36 percent by 2005.
This rise of low-paying jobs hit less-educated men particularly hard; for those with just a high school diploma, 87 percent of the new jobs paid $25,000 or less.
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