Big City Women Show Their Earning Power

Lindsay Mure, 25, runs her own networking site for professional women. She says she wasn't surprised to learn that young women are out-earning men.

She tells CBS News correspondent Kelly Wallace she thinks one reason young women like herself make more than men in big cities is because they're putting off marriage longer.

"We are not having kids as early as we used to," says the 25-year-old Internet entrepreneur. "We are not settling down at 21, 22 like our parents and our grandparents, so it really gives us more time to develop our career."

And more time to develop their brains. Andrew Beveridge, the report's author, says more women are graduating college than men and are often flocking to urban areas.

"Women have gone ahead and gotten better educated than men and they're able, in certain ways, to navigate better in the new economy," says Beveridge, a sociologist at Queen's College.

Remember those "Sex and the City" gals? They often dished about making more money than men.

"'Sex in the City' not only helped us improve our sex lives, but our career lives," says Karen Salmansohn, author of the "30-Day Plan To Whip Your Career Into Submission."

Salmansohn says like in the TV show, women in big cities benefit from the support of other high-achieving professional women.

"It's the Marines mentality, where women are kept at their highest level because they are surrounded by other women who are living at their highest level," she says.

"Are you okay with this? Making more money than men?" asks Wallace.
"Absolutely," says Mure.

Women may be fine with it, but what do the guys think?

"You know, it takes a little pressure off of my shoulders. You know, you kind of let the other half make the money for a little while," one man said.

"Good for them," says another. "They can take the lead for awhile."

As they get older, women traditionally have earned less than men. The question is whether the girl power generation's s earning power can continue as they grow gray.