More Young Women Want to Earn the Big Bucks

Among today's young people, more young women are eager to rake in cash than are their male counterparts. Some two-thirds of 18- to 34-year-old women say a successful, high-paying job is "one of the most important things" or "very important" to them, a Pew report finds, compared to 59% of young men. That's a change from 1997, when 56% of women and 56% of men were equally keen on high pay. A Pew rep chalks the difference up in part to women's increased education levels.

"This younger generation of women are more highly skilled and educated, so they can compete in a different way," she says. About 57% of today's college students are women, USA Today notes. But the gap in pay between the sexes remains a problem: Women earn just 77% of what men take in, another poll this week shows. The gap appears to widen according to age. While 25- to 34-year-old women earn some 91% of what men their age earn, the figure is 75-80% among women 35 and older. But the value women place on high pay hasn't overridden other priorities: More young women—37%—say a successful marriage is "one of the most important things" than in 1997, when 28% said the same. Click through for more from the Pew report. (More equal pay stories.)