The Pay Gap between Men and Women 1 There is a little pay gap between men and women who are fresh college graduates. However, the gap gets wider and wider for the next couple of decades. The best approach to get to the source of the problem is to take a closer look at when those changes take place at work. The noticeable decrease in women’s pay usually occurs when women reach their late 20s or mid-30s. During those time periods, women are actively engaged in marriage or childbirth and become less active at work due to overwhelming house chores and unequal distribution of labor at home. Even for women who are married without children, things are not that different. They opt to move along or stay put for their husbands’ job, taking on less important jobs at work or missing out on important job opportunities.