6 The data on Asian women also require a more nuanced analysis to gain a complete picture. Looking at 2019 data, Native women earned only 60 cents for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men. Native American women, historically, have also experienced a sizable wage gap, but an up-to-date analysis is difficult because the data for 2020 are currently not available. These gaps for Hispanic and Black women are much wider than the still-large gap experienced by white, non-Hispanic women, who earned 79 cents for every $1 earned by their white, non-Hispanic male counterparts in 2020. The data that include multiracial Black women are referred to as data on Black women alone or in combination. This number dips slightly to 63 cents, reflecting a slightly larger wage gap, when data on multiracial Black women-meaning Black women who also identify with another racial category-are included in the analysis. (see Figure 1) Black women also experience wide pay gaps, with data on Black women alone revealing that-despite consistently having some of the highest labor force participation rates 5-they earned just 64 cents for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men in 2020. When looking at women’s wages across broad racial and ethnic categories among full-time, year-round workers, Hispanic women experience the largest pay gap, having earned just 57 cents for every $1 earned by white, non-Hispanic men in 2020. 4 Simply put, there has never been a time in this country when there has not been a wage gap that exists along intersecting gender and racial lines. The intersection of race, ethnicity, and gender has always had compounding effects, and these effects most often exacerbate and widen the wage gap.

3 But this aggregate number provides an incomplete picture because it treats women as a monolith and obscures the vastly different economic realities experienced by many women of color. The wage gap number that often receives the most public attention is the overall ratio of women’s to men’s earnings among full-time, year-round workers 2-just 83 cents for women for every $1 earned by men in 2020. This is largely driven by the undervaluation of work predominantly supplied by women, combined with other forms of bias. The data consistently show that women of color experience persistent economic inequality in part because they have the largest gaps in wages when compared with their male counterparts. The gender wage gap is an important measure for evaluating gender equity in wages and workplaces overall. It is long overdue for the federal government to pursue measures that strengthen equal pay protections, combat bias, and promote worker retention-especially among women workers-which are all critical to reducing economic inequality and securing economic stability for women of color and their families.Īnalyzing the gender wage gaps for women of color census data released in September confirmed that the harshest effects of the gender wage gap continue to fall on women of color, 1 with many of them experiencing the largest gender pay gaps among all workers. As a result, women of color are less able to build savings, withstand economic downturns, and achieve some measure of economic stability. The stubborn resilience of the gender wage gap, coupled with intersecting racial bias in the workplace, means that many women of color are perpetually underpaid, and these losses accumulate and grow over time. Not only has the United States relied on women of color as essential workers to help keep the economy running, provide much-needed services, and sustain families throughout the pandemic, but it has also watched these women shoulder disproportionate job losses and caregiving challenges-all while they are earning just a fraction of what their white and male counterparts earn.

This integral role has been front and center during the devastating COVID-19 pandemic that has wreaked economic havoc in every corner of the country and continues to have lingering effects. As breadwinners, workers, and caregivers, women of color have been the longtime yet unsung backbone of the U.S.

Do women get equal pay