The gender pay gap is still a reality for many women. Overall, women earn approximately 81.4% of the amount their male counterparts, according to BLS data. The disparity is even wider for women of color, especially African American and Hispanic women.

And, the pay gap starts early. Women begin their careers earning less in the median income they take home then men at the same age, PayScale found. Although women’s earnings initially grow faster than men, they start to plateau much earlier then men.

The early disparity stems from a variety of factors, including a lack of representation and occupational segregation. Wages for women tend to slow down for those in their late 20s, which suggests that starting a family is probably a key element of the gender pay gap, according to PayScale.

American women of all races and ethnicities and men of color are less represented at higher levels of organizations than white men,” PayScale reports. And while the number of women running Fortune 500 companies is at a record high, they still only account for 6.6% of CEOs.

The Payscale report also points to challenges during the job search process, where women benefit less frequently from networking and employee referrals, which help applicants get ‘a foot in the door’ since many job vacancies are not publicly advertised.