Depressing survey reveals teen girls assume they'll make less money than teen boys do

Well, we can all pat ourselves on the back. We’ve officially passed down the gender pay gap—in which women earn far less than men, despite being equally qualified—to young ladies across America.

A new survey from Junior Achievement USA and The Allstate Foundation found that nearly a quarter of teen girls (24 percent) assume their first job after high school will earn them $15,000 a year or less, which is equivalent to the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour.

Boys, on the other hand, are much more optimistic. Only 16 percent thought they would earn minimum wage—the rest felt they would take their rightful place as the higher earners of society.

The gap isn’t just in earning power, though. It appears parents talk to their boys about money more often than their girls. The survey—which polled 800 teens ages 13 to 18 and 801 parents—found that 40 percent of teen girls said their parents don’t talk to them about money management, compared to only 24 percent of boys who said the same. Thirty-one percent of teen boys said their parents help them keep track of money, versus only 20 percent of teen girls.

Seriously, it’s 2015—why is this still a thing?

As the country was recently reminded on Equal Pay Day, women only make 78 cents for every dollar that men make, according to the Department of Labor. Women only hold 5 percent of CEO positions and 20 percent of congressional seats, and a woman has never been elected president (yet)—all this, despite accounting for nearly 60 percent of college graduates.

To drive this message home, actress Rita Wilson and some fellow female actresses released an entertaining video this week called “Make It Right,” cheekily calling for men to finally make up 100 percent of everything—like they deserve.

Taryn Hillin is Fusion’s love and sex writer, with a large focus on the science of relationships. She also loves dogs, Bourbon barrel-aged beers and popcorn — not necessarily in that order.