Womenomics

Women claimed three of the top five spots in Forbes magazine’s 2010 Celebrity power list, with singer Lady Gaga making her first entry and Oprah Winfrey retaking her No 1 position. Talk show host Winfrey earned an estimated US$315 million (NZ$445m), putting her stop the annual Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list for the fourth time.

Grammy-winning R & B singer Beyonce rose to second with an estimated US$87 million from a tour and album sales, together with deals in fashion fragrance and other endorsements.

Glam pop star Lady Gaga made the list for the first time, talking fourth place with estimated earnings of US$62m.

But wait there is more – its not just celebrity women who are earning as much as men, according to an analysis of the American workplace, the pay gap between men and women is set to vanish within 14 years among the professional classes, Women will on average earn more than men in careers such as law, medicine and academia by 2024, says Maddy Dychtwald, a Californian expert on demographics.

She says women are more ambitious, going for the top jobs, and younger women would find pay disparity with their male peers a joke.

If this trend continues, women in middle-income jobs such as teaching, healthcare and the arts will start overtaking men shortly after 2024.
The predictions mark a startling break with official estimates at the start of the century, which suggested the pay gap would persist for another 40 years.

Declining birth rates, a growing number of female-friendly posts and the “mancession” – where more men than women lost their jobs in the US recession – have since helped to shatter elements of the glass ceiling.
The “motherhood penalty” remains the biggest obstacle to female advancement, experts say. This may change as the birth rate fails and educational opportunity trickle down.