It's a jungle out there, gals.

Particularly if you're a working woman in Utah.

More women in Utah are in the work force than females nationwide per capita, yet as Labor Day approaches, they still substantially lag behind men here in education and earnings.

The gap in earnings — women in Utah on average earn 69 percent of what men do — isn't surprising considering their troublesome college graduation rate, said Lecia Parks Langston, a Utah Department of Workforce Services economist.

Utah has the worst gap in the nation between men and women earning bachelor's degrees or higher — a difference of 6 percentage points. The Utah education gap more than doubles that of the next closest state, Idaho at 2.7 percentage points, while the national average is a mere 1.3 points.

"There's a cultural expectation in Utah that women will marry, have children and their husbands will support them," Langston said. "But many of them will end up working."

Ironically, Utah's working women are part of the reason Utah hasn't suffered even more during the Great Recession. Jobs traditionally held by men, such as in manufacturing and construction, were hammered in the slow economy. In two-income families, when one spouse is laid off, the other can be the breadwinner.

Langston is an example. Her husband, who worked in a construction-related industry, has been laid off. Until he's able to find employment, her family is relying on her income alone.

Utah has another edge in dealing with the recession: its youth, demographer Pam Perlich said. More Utah teens and young adults are in the labor force than their national counterparts, enabling them to help support themselves and in some cases, their families.

"Teenage girls and women who work have been a blessing to many households during this recession," Perlich said.

That effect, however, may have been even greater if Utah women overall were better prepared for the work force.

Prior to 1980, women in Utah had a higher rate of college graduation than U.S. women. But by 2000, they had lost that higher educational edge. Utah women have been getting more education since then, but they're still not keeping up with men or their U.S. female counterparts.

At the same time, Utah men are "head and shoulders" above their national counterparts, posting a 32 percent rate of college graduation, in contrast to the U.S. average of 28 percent, Langston said.

Women who don't get degrees may find themselves in dead-end jobs, where they work more and earn less, Langston said. For instance, if they have a high paying job as a computer program analyst, they can work fewer hours after their children are born — yet their incomes would still be higher than if they worked as say, a full-time cashier at less than half the pay.

Women who think they'll be able to stay home may be playing a game of statistical roulette.

Since 1980, more Utah women have been in the labor market than females nationally. About 74 percent of Utah mothers with school-age children work outside the home, and 59 percent of mothers with preschool children also work.

At the same time, Utah's gender wage gap is the fourth largest in the nation. Nationwide, women earn 78 percent of what men do. The difference is that women nationally are a lot more likely than Utah women to go into higher paying jobs that used to be male-dominated occupations, particularly ones that require math and science, Langston says.

But even when factoring in women's choices that steer them to lower paying jobs, such as less job experience, more career interruptions and working fewer hours, studies cannot completely account for the male-female wage gap. Experts say the number points to gender discrimination as well.

University of Utah senior Katerina Zlochevsky hopes to avoid the fate of other Utah women.

Zlochevsky, 22, who pursued a degree in mass communications, said she also believes she can balance having a family and continuing to work.

She anticipates she'll always be working, "just because I get bored easily, and I have a lot of passions I want to pursue."

dawn@sltrib.com —

Utah's working women

Wage gap • Utah women make 69 percent of men's median earnings.

Education gap • 26 percent of Utah women get bachelor's degrees, compared with 32 percent for men.

Family life • 74 percent of female workers have school-age children.

Labor force • 62 percent of Utah women work, compared with 60 percent nationally.

Source • Utah Department of Workforce Services. —

Utah's working women

Wage gap • Utah women make 69% of men's median earnings.

Education gap • 26% of Utah women earn bachelor's degrees, compared with 32% of men.

Family life • 74% of female workers have school-age kids.

Labor force • 62% of Utah women work, compared with 60% nationally.

Source • Utah Department of Workforce Services