Conversations around the wage gap tend to over-focus on the numbers while ignoring the causes. But these numbers are more than facts and figures; they represent the tangible consequences of sexism and white supremacy in the United States and how our country systematically devalues women of color and their labor. While racism and sexism are often thought of as individual bias, history shows us that systemic discrimination in pay and exploitation of workers based on race, class, gender, and immigration status can be traced all the way back to this country’s horrific past of enslaving Africans and their descendants; colonial attempts to destroy Native communities; and immigration policies, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1924 to the Bracero program of the 1940s-1960s, to the Trump administration’s Muslim bans and the humanitarian crisis on our Southern border.
Today this means that Black women in the United States who work full time, year-round are typically paid just 64 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men. The wages of Black women are driven down by a number of current factors including gender and racial discrimination, workplace harassment, job segregation, and a lack of workplace policies that support family caregiving, which is still most often performed by women. Overall, women employed full-time, year-round are typically paid 83 cents for every dollar paid to men.
Even in states with large populations of Black women in the workforce, rampant wage disparities persist, with potentially devastating consequences for Black women and families.
In the 25 states (including the District of Columbia) with the largest numbers of Black women working full time, year-round, pay for Black women ranges from 48 to 68 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men in those states.
Of these 25 states, the District of Columbia and Mississippi have the largest shares of Black women working full time, year-round (as a percentage of their state’s overall full-time workforce). Black women in the District of Columbia are paid 49 cents and Black women in Mississippi are paid 57 cents for every dollar paid to white, non- Hispanic men. Black women face the largest overall cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps in Louisiana (just 48 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men), the District of Columbia (49 cents), and South Carolina and New Jersey (55 cents).
Of these 25 states, Texas and Georgia have the largest populations of Black women working full time, year-round. Black women in Texas are paid 58 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, and Black women in Georgia are paid 59 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
Among these 25 states, Missouri, Maryland, Kentucky and Tennessee have the smallest cents-on-the-dollar wage gaps, but Black women in those states still face substantial disparities. On average, Black women are paid just 68 cents in Maryland and 67 cents in Missouri, Kentucky, and Tennessee for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men.
