STM Blog
US women narrowed the pay gap with men by having fewer kids
US women narrowed the pay gap: In 2024, U.S. women earned 85% of men’s wages, an improvement from 65% in the mid-1980s. A key factor in narrowing the pay gap is the decline in birth rates, which affects men’s and women’s wages differently, impacting women’s progress.
US women narrowed the pay gap with men by having fewer kids
Alexandra Killewald, University of Michigan and Nino Cricco, Harvard University
Women in the U.S. typically earned 85% as much as men for every hour they spent working in 2024. However, working women are faring much better than their moms and grandmothers did 40 years ago. In the mid-1980s, women were making only 65% as much as men for every hour of paid work.
Women’s wages have improved relative to what men earn in part because of gains in their education and work experience, and because women have moved into higher-paying occupations. But progress toward pay equality has stalled.
As sociologists and demographers, we wanted to know whether changes in American families might also have helped women come closer to pay equality with men. In an article published in June 2025 in Social Forces, an academic journal, we argued that this pay gap is becoming smaller in part because women are having fewer children.
Moms earn less but dads earn more
In the U.S. and elsewhere, ample evidence shows that parenthood affects men’s and women’s wages differently.
Compared to remaining childless, motherhood leads to wage losses for women. And those losses are larger when women have more kids.
By contrast, after men become fathers their wages usually rise.
Because having kids tends to push women’s wages down and men’s wages up, parenthood widens the gender pay gap.
Decline in birth rate plays a role
Americans are having fewer kids in general. Women, including those who don’t work outside the home, had an average of about three children by their 40s in 1980. By 2000, that average had fallen to 1.9, and it has been fairly stable since then.
To see whether changes in how many kids working American moms have affects what they earn relative to men, we analyzed data collected from a nationally representative sample of U.S. families. We tracked trends over time in the number of children that employed Americans ages 30-55 have.
We found that employees’ average number of children fell significantly between 1980 and 2000, declining from around 2.4 to around 1.8. That average stabilized after 2000; employees had an average of about 1.8 children in 2018 – the most recent year in our analysis.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/oYJC1/1
At the same time, the pay that women in this age range earned per hour relative to men rose steeply. It climbed from 58% in 1980 to 69% by 1990 and then rose more gradually to 76% by 2018. That is, as people were having fewer kids, the gender pay gap got smaller. For both trends, there was rapid change in the 1980s, followed by slower change after 1990.
We next estimated whether declines in the number of children men and women have can explain the narrowing of the gender pay gap between 1980 and 2018.
We found that, even after adjusting for other factors, such as years of education, prior work experience and occupation, about 8% of the decline in the gender pay gap can be explained by the lower number of children working women and men are having.
Next, we showed that the number of children American employees had declined faster in the 1980s than later on. That slowdown coincided with a deceleration of women’s gains in pay relative to men. Once the average number of children that U.S. employees had stabilized around 2000, so did women’s progress toward earning as much as men.
https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/anMoC/1
Questions about the future of US fertility
U.S. scholars and policymakers are debating whether and why Americans are having fewer children today than one or two decades ago, and what the government should do about it.
We agree that these are important questions.
Our research shows that any future changes in how many children Americans have are very likely to affect how quickly women and men reach pay equality. But it’s not inevitable.
The number of children Americans have affects the gender pay gap only because parenthood decreases women’s wages while increasing men’s wages. As long as these unequal effects of parenthood on what men and women earn persist, they will continue to act as a brake on women’s progress toward equal pay.
Alexandra Killewald, Professor of Sociology, University of Michigan and Nino Cricco, Doctoral Student in Sociology, Harvard University
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The Bridge is a section of the STM Daily News Blog meant for diversity, offering real news stories about bona fide community efforts to perpetuate a greater good. The purpose of The Bridge is to connect the divides that separate us, fostering understanding and empathy among different groups. By highlighting positive initiatives and inspirational actions, The Bridge aims to create a sense of unity and shared purpose. This section brings to light stories of individuals and organizations working tirelessly to promote inclusivity, equality, and mutual respect. Through these narratives, readers are encouraged to appreciate the richness of diverse perspectives and to participate actively in building stronger, more cohesive communities.
https://stmdailynews.com/the-bridge
unknown
Did Jackie Gleason See Aliens? Inside the Strange Nixon–UFO Legend
Jackie Gleason reportedly told his wife that President Richard Nixon arranged for him to view preserved extraterrestrial bodies at a Florida Air Force base. Here is what we know—and why the remarkable story remains unverified.
The beloved comedian reportedly told his wife that President Richard Nixon arranged for him to view preserved extraterrestrial bodies at a Florida Air Force base. Decades later, the extraordinary story remains fascinating—but unverified.
Jackie Gleason is remembered as “The Great One,” the larger-than-life entertainer who turned bus driver Ralph Kramden into one of television’s most enduring characters on The Honeymooners. Away from the cameras, however, Gleason had another consuming interest: UFOs, psychic phenomena and the possibility of extraterrestrial life.
That interest eventually became the foundation of one of the strangest stories ever associated with an American president and a Hollywood celebrity. According to Gleason’s second wife, Beverly McKittrick, her husband came home late one night in 1973 and claimed that President Richard Nixon had helped him see the preserved bodies of extraterrestrial beings at Homestead Air Force Base in Florida.
Did Jackie Gleason really see aliens?
The honest answer is that we do not know. The allegation is remarkable, but the available evidence never rises above an uncorroborated story attributed to Gleason years after the supposed event.
Gleason’s fascination with UFOs was real
There is little question that Gleason took the UFO subject seriously. He reportedly assembled a substantial personal library devoted to UFOs, the paranormal and related mysteries. His unusual circular home in New York—often nicknamed “The Mothership”—only strengthened his public association with flying saucers, although its distinctive architecture is not evidence of an extraterrestrial encounter.
Gleason also had a genuine social connection with Nixon. The two men shared an interest in golf and spent time together in Florida. That documented friendship is the factual starting point from which the more sensational story grew.
The alleged trip to Homestead Air Force Base
McKittrick said that Gleason returned to their Florida home at about 11:30 one evening looking disturbed. According to her account, he told her that Nixon had arrived without the usual presidential entourage and taken him to Homestead Air Force Base, south of Miami.
Once there, Gleason allegedly entered a secured building where he saw small humanoid bodies preserved inside glass-topped containers. Published versions differ over the number of bodies and some physical details, but they generally describe child-sized beings with oversized heads.
Importantly, McKittrick did not claim to have accompanied the men or witnessed anything at the base. Her account was based entirely on what she said Gleason told her after returning home.
The story became public in 1983, years after the alleged visit and after the couple had divorced. It circulated widely through tabloid reporting, UFO publications and later books, gradually becoming part of UFO folklore.
Why the story remains unverified
No authenticated photograph, visitor record, military document or firsthand statement from Nixon has emerged to confirm the alleged trip. Gleason also never provided investigators with a signed affidavit describing the experience.
UFO researcher Larry Bryant reportedly sought records from Homestead and tried to obtain a statement from Gleason, but those efforts produced no confirming documentation. Gleason’s refusal to address the account publicly has sometimes been portrayed as suspicious, but silence is not proof that an event occurred.
There is another important complication: McKittrick later expressed uncertainty about her former husband’s story.
During telephone interviews conducted by researcher Kenny Young in 2003, she stood by her recollection that Gleason told her he had seen “dead aliens.” She also acknowledged that, as the years passed, she wondered whether he might have invented the explanation because he had been out late. She declined to appear on camera and said the story should be authenticated first.
Her later comments do not establish that the account was false, but they considerably weaken any attempt to treat it as verified history.
Could a president have slipped away unnoticed?
Some versions of the legend emphasize that Nixon supposedly drove to Gleason’s house alone and then entered a military installation without his Secret Service detail. Presidents have occasionally sought privacy or slipped away from tightly managed schedules, but a secret nighttime excursion of this nature would have involved serious security and logistical obstacles.
The claim becomes even more difficult to accept when we consider what Nixon allegedly revealed. If the United States possessed extraterrestrial bodies, granting a comedian personal access to them would have represented an extraordinary breach of national security—with no apparent official purpose and no surviving documentation.
None of that makes the episode logically impossible. It does, however, mean that the story requires exceptionally strong evidence. That evidence has never appeared.
A compelling legend, not a confirmed encounter
The Jackie Gleason story endures because it combines three irresistible ingredients: a famous comedian fascinated by UFOs, a secretive American president and a nighttime visit to a military base containing an alleged government secret.
What can be established is that Gleason was deeply interested in UFOs, knew Nixon and was said by his former wife to have made an extraordinary claim. What cannot be established is that Nixon took him to Homestead Air Force Base or that preserved extraterrestrial bodies were ever stored there.
So, did Jackie Gleason see aliens?
Perhaps he believed that he did—or perhaps he simply told an unforgettable story. Until corroborating evidence emerges, the alleged encounter belongs in the intriguing borderland between celebrity history and American UFO mythology.
Sources and further reading
- The Black Vault: Jackie Gleason and the Pickled Alien
- University of Miami Libraries: The Jackie Gleason Collection
- U.S. Department of Defense: All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office
Step into The Unknown, where STM Daily News explores the strange phenomena, unexplained encounters and enduring mysteries that continue to challenge what we think we know. From UFO sightings and paranormal events to historical mysteries and unusual scientific discoveries, we examine the stories, evidence and competing explanations—without losing our sense of wonder. https://stmdailynews.com/science/unknown/
Community
PenFed Foundation Raises Over $1.2M for Veterans and Military Families at 23rd Annual Military Heroes Golf Classic
The PenFed Foundation says it raised over $1.2 million for veterans and military families at its 23rd annual Military Heroes Golf Classic.
The PenFed Foundation for Military Heroes said it raised more than $1.2 million to support veterans and military families during its 23rd annual Military Heroes Golf Classic, held Monday, Aug. 31, according to a PRNewswire release. The nonprofit, based in the Washington, D.C. region, focuses on helping veterans transition “from service to success” through programs and grants aimed at military-connected communities.
“We are deeply grateful to our partners and supporters whose generosity and dedication make this event—and the Foundation’s work—possible,” said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradford J. “B.J.” Shwedo, president of the PenFed Foundation, in a statement announcing the fundraising total.
At a dinner held the night before the Golf Classic, PenFed Credit Union President/CEO and PenFed Foundation CEO James Schenck recognized Ed Cody for 25 years of service on the foundation’s board of directors. Cody also serves as chairman of the PenFed Credit Union board and was credited with helping guide initiatives including Defender’s Lodge, the Afghan Rescue and Resettlement Program, the Veteran Entrepreneur Program, and grants supporting wounded, ill, and injured service members.
The foundation said it has provided more than $55 million in financial support to veterans, active-duty service members, and military families since it was founded in 2001. It also noted that PenFed Credit Union covers salaries and administrative costs, allowing more donations to go directly to programs.
What to watch for: How the foundation allocates the new $1.2M across its veteran transition and emergency support programs—and whether it announces new grant rounds tied to entrepreneurship and resettlement work.
SOURCE PenFed Foundation
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Entertainment
Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show Starring Bad Bunny Wins 7 Emmys, Sets New Record
Executive produced by Roc Nation and JAY-Z, the show becomes the most-awarded halftime production in Emmy history.
The Apple Music Super Bowl LX Halftime Show starring Bad Bunny took home seven Emmy Awards at the 78th Emmy Awards, making it the most-awarded Super Bowl halftime show in Emmy history, according to Roc Nation. The live spectacle—executive produced by Roc Nation and JAY-Z—won across major production categories, underscoring how the halftime stage has evolved into a full-scale, awards-caliber live television event.
The record-setting wins included Outstanding Variety Special (Live), Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Special, Outstanding Choreography for Variety or Reality Programming, Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special, Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Special, and Outstanding Technical Direction and Camerawork for a Special. Roc Nation also noted the show set a global viewership record, pulling 4.157 billion views in 24 hours across global broadcast, YouTube, and social platforms.
Beyond the trophies and viewership numbers, the halftime show leaned into big-name star power with special guest performers Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin, plus additional appearances from Karol G, Cardi B, Jessica Alba, Pedro Pascal, Young Miko, and others. The sweep signals not just a win for the artists on stage, but for the behind-the-scenes creative teams turning the halftime show into one of the most technically ambitious live productions on television.
What to watch for: With Emmy recognition now firmly in the conversation, expect future halftime shows to push even harder on cinematic staging, choreography, and broadcast innovation—because the bar (and the awards) just got higher.
Source: Roc Nation (PRNewswire), Sept. 6, 2026
Link to original press release: https://prnmedia.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-apple-music-super-bowl-lx-halftime-starring-bad-bunny–executive-produced-by-roc-nation–jay-z-wins-seven-emmys-302870842.html
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