Dear Friends,
The pandemic and its resulting economic fallout brought into sharp focus the consequences of the gender pay gap for Black women: fewer savings to ride out an economic downturn, not enough money to cover the costs of housing and food, and financial uncertainty.
The unemployment rate for Black women is 10 percent, nearly double the rate for all women (5.5 percent). Many Black women have also been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer.
Today, August 3rd, marks how long Black women in the U.S. must work into the new year to earn what White men earned the previous year. It is estimated that Black women lose more than $1 million in earnings to the pay gap over their careers.
While the pay gap—the difference in earnings between men and women—has been at the top of the women’s equality agenda for decades, between 1960 and now, the gap has only narrowed by about 20 cents. In fact, it is estimated it will take close to another 40 years, until 2059, for men and women to reach pay parity, on average. For Black women, it will take more than a century.
As we sprint towards an economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, we need to ensure it is equitable and the systemic barriers to pay equality for Black women are adequately addressed. These barriers include the concentration of Black women in lower-wage jobs; gender and racial stereotypes in the workplace and in society; and pay secrecy.
Earlier this year, I joined soccer superstar Megan Rapinoe in Congress to testify on the importance of equal pay for equal work for all women.
And last year, I wrote an article on my own experiences with unequal pay for the Washington Post, asking: “As a Black single mom, how much money will I have lost out on by the end of my career?”
