The Seattle Times reports that single women are increasingly being priced out of the booming condo market in Belltown, where prices jumped 23% in 2004 to a median of $360,000.
"A decade ago, single men and single women each were about 25 percent of the market" but today "a third are single men" and "17 percent are single women."
This trend is an important impact of the income gender gap, which is alive and well -- even in Seattle, one of our nation's most progressive cities.
According to the Census Bureau's 2005 American Community Survey, in 2005 the median male full-time worker who lived in Seattle earned about $50,007, 18% more than the median female full-time worker. The gap was 31% between men and women with college degrees.
Another way of thinking about the gap: an income of about $66,000 is enough to purchase a $270,000 home. Among full-time workers living in Seattle, 35% of men and 26% of women earned more than $65,000 (2005 ACS).
These statistics don't prove that men are sexist pigs (hey, I'm a man!) any more than they prove that women like work for less money (at least that's what I hear).
What they do prove is that for whatever reason there is a fundamental economic power disparity between men and women.
It's a disparity that we should eliminate sooner rather than later.
© Jed Lewison