Black Women have historically been in the workforce, which is a different experience than our white female counterparts. Today, more than 60% of Black Women are in the workforce, making them one of the largest groups of Women with the highest labor force participation rate.

 

However, earnings for Black women are behind most Women and men’s earnings of other races. And since Black Women are more likely to be the primary earner in 8 out of 10 Black households in California, that $.63 must spread across meeting the basic needs of the family. This is an annual wage gap of $26,125 which equates to nearly 2.5 years of child care; 2.5 additional years of tuition and fees for a four year public university or full cost of tuition and fees for a two-year community college; 155 more weeks of food for her family in a three year period; 14 more months of mortgage and utilities; and nearly 22 more months of rent.

 

According to recent reports, Black Women spend 50% of their income on housing and 30% on day care. This leaves 20% to pay utilities, buy food, pay tithes, etc. Policies that increase taxes or cuts supplemental programs can be financially devastating to Black Women. Pay day loans and other predatory lending activities in communities of color have become options for Black Women who are trying to meet the basic needs of their families, which further complicate our financial stability.

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Addressing these disparities is not an easy task. Workplace discrimination and implicit bias are still alive and are systemic in many environments particularly in industries that traditionally lack diversity. The area that we see the most growth opportunity is around pay equity. A recent report from AFSCME, the union that represents more than 25,000 low-wage University of California workers, stated that starting wages for black Women are 23 percent lower than starting wages for white men, which work out to a difference of around $16,000 a year. Among service workers, the difference is about 10 percent, or about $4,000.

 

Regardless of the data, the efforts of pay equity tend to be seen from the lens of our White Female counterparts who make $.75 of their White Male counterparts. Their work is a universal goal to bridge the pay gap for all Women. The thinking is that if they move the needle for them; we all move up.

 

Unfortunately by focusing on pay equity in one swoop, it tends to miss the issue of the gap between the Women for each race. For instance, Black Women will still have a $.12 pay gap if there aren’t interventions to bring us all to an equal playing field. This will take a collaborative effort between all Women to look for ways to effectively address pay equity. It will require our counterparts to change their narrative and redefine what success looks like.

 

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