Mapping the Wage Gap for Working Women of Color
While gender is an important factor in explaining women’s experiences in the workforce, the true story of the wage gap is far more complicated when we talk about women of color.
Lauren Bealore | a Prosperity Now feature
The term “wage gap” is often associated with gender. However, while gender is an important factor in explaining women’s experiences in the workforce, the true story of the wage gap is far more complicated. Looking at the earnings of full-time working women of different races and ethnicities reveals that the racial wage gap compounds upon the gender wage gap, leading women of color to receive less pay and higher levels of pay fluctuation between states compared to White women.
This brief considers the size and consistency of the wage gap for women from different ethno-racial groups by analyzing 5-year 2021 ACS data for White, Black, Asian and Hispanic women. First, we consider the size of the wage gap for women from each ethno-racial group, using White men as the reference category. Second, we consider the consistency of the wage gap for each group – showing that the relative median wages of women more widely fluctuate for some ethno-racial groups than others. To calculate the size and consistency with which women of different ethno-racial groups experience the wage gap, this brief measures wage volatility. Wage volatility is the percentage difference between the relative wages of states offering the lowest and the highest relative wages to women. In other words, we look at how dramatically the relative wages of women vary between states for each ethno-racial group.
0 – 30 percent wage volatility means that wages are relatively consistent between states
31 – 60 percent wage volatility means that wages are moderately inconsistent between states
61 – 100 percent wage volatility means that the wages are highly inconsistent between states
Different Wages for Women of Different Races & Ethnicities
White, Black, Hispanic and Asian women experience different relative wages at both at the national and the state level. Moreover, women within the same ethno-racial group can also experience different relative wages in different states. The maps below allow us to compare both the size and distribution of the wage gap for women of different ethno-racial groups, and observe trends in each group’s relative wages …
In each map, darker colors represent where women earn lower relative wages to White men in that state. In other words, the darker the color, the lower the relative wages women are earning. In looking at the colors in the maps above, we can therefore see that Black and Hispanic women experience lower wages more than White and Asian women do. The maps also demonstrate the consistency of wages, relative to White men, earned across states for a given racial/ethnic group. For example, the map for White women is largely a single shade of blue, showing that relative wages are fairly consistent for White women across states. However, when we look at the map of Asian women through the same lens, we see a high level of color contrast between states, showing that the relative wages of Asian women are more inconsistent between states.
However, when we look at the map of Asian women through the same lens, we see a high level of color contrast between states, showing that the relative wages of Asian women are more inconsistent between states.
In general, we find that …
The wage volatility of White women is the lowest of any group, at 26.8 percent.
The wage volatility of Black women is 43.2 percent.
The wage volatility of Hispanic women is 42.8 percent.
The wage volatility of Asian women is the highest of any group, at 65.0 percent.
The Wages of White Women
Across different states, White women’s wages are more consistent when compared to women of color.
With the maps providing a general overview of the wages of working women from different ethno-racial groups, the following sections will review how the size and consistency of the wage gap differs for White, Black, Hispanic, and Asian women.
At the national level, White women earn 79 cents to the dollar when compared to White men. They earn wages that are significantly higher than the relative wages earned by Black and Hispanic women and wages that are more consistent than Asian women at a national level. In terms of volatility, state-level relative wages range from a low of 69 cents in Louisiana to a high of 89 cents in Hawaii.
The range of relative wages White women earn between the states providing the highest and lowest relative wages result in White women having a comparatively narrow wage volatility of 26.8 percent. In other words, White women earn relatively consistent wages between states, as is demonstrated in the map below where most states are shown to provide White women with wages between 77 and 81 cents.
Compared to other ethno-racial groups, the relative wages of White women vary less between states, making the relative rate of compensation for White women more consistent than the rate of compensation for Black, Asian and Hispanic women on a state-to-state basis.
The Wages of Black Women
Black women consistently earn lower wages than women from other ethno-racial groups.
At a national level, Black women earn a relative wage of 65 cents to the dollar when compared to White men, with the state-level relative wages of Black women running as high as 76 cents to the dollar in states like Hawaii. While the upper range of relative wages may suggest that Black women receive wages comparable to other ethno-racial groups, the relative wages of Black women compared to White men can be as low as 49 cents in states like Louisiana.
This high level of difference between Black women’s comparative relative wages is reflected in Black women having a wage volatility rate of 43.2 percent. This rate of wage volatility shows that wages are moderately inconsistent for full-time working Black women from state-to-state.
An increased wage volatility shows that Black women experience the wage gap to different degrees depending on the state they live in. However, considering that the relative wages of Black women do not exceed 76 cents, a “moderately high” wage volatility means that Black women are consistently held at low relative wages in comparison to women from other ethno-racial groups. This is further evidenced by over half of states offering relative wages to Black women that are at or below 62 cents to the dollar.
Thus, as we strive to ensure Black women receive just compensation for their labor across the United States, the capping of women’s relative wages at 76 cents and the moderate inconsistency in relative wages between states shows that Black women bear a particularly large burden of the wage gap compared to women of other groups.
The Wages of Hispanic Women
Hispanic women consistently earn the lowest relative wages in the United States.
At the national level, Hispanic women earn 58 cents to the dollar when compared to White men– the lowest relative wages of any other demographic group considered in this brief. The relative wages of Hispanic women range from a high of 68 cents in states like Maine, to a low in states like California, where Hispanic women earn as little as 44 cents to the dollar. While some states in the northern half of the U.S. offer marginally greater rates of compensation, low relative wages for Hispanic women are consistent across the United States. These low wages are particularly troubling when we consider Hispanic women’s wage volatility stands as 42.8%, meaning that despite moderate differences in relative wages between states, no state provides Hispanic women with wages comparable to those of higher compensated ethno-racial groups …
While a variety of intersecting factors may impact the wages of Hispanic people in the U.S., research shows that the factors that account for some of the economic disparities for Hispanic men, such as education, professional experience and immigration status, do not sufficiently account for disparities among Hispanic women. Thus, the intersecting factors that make Hispanic women earn low median wages must be explored to address the disproportionately large share of the wage gap Hispanic women bear.
The Wages of Asian Women
Earning comparable wages relative to White men is not a universal experience for Asian women.
In the context of this brief, Asian women are the most highly compensated ethno-racial group in the US, earning a relative national wage of 98 cents to the dollar when compared to the wages of White men. Despite earning high relative wages at a national level, Asian American women have the highest wage volatility in the United States4 – earning relative wages ranging from 56 cents in states like Alaska to $1.10 in states like Delaware. With a wage volatility of 65 percent, the high amount of fluctuation between the relative wages of Asian women in different states can be observed in the map below …
This high level of volatility can partially be explained by large ethnic income differences within the Asian population. Burmese and Indian Americans represent both sides of the economic divide among different Asian ethnic groups, with the median household income of Burmese Americans at $53,000 nationally and the median household income of Indian Americans at $134,000 nationally. Consider New York–a state ranked amongst the best for the compensation of Asian women’s labor relative to White men, and where Indian Americans outnumber Burmese Americans 22:1. The different median income levels of the two groups may impact the overall wages of Asian women compared to White men, as they a earn 85 cents for every dollar. A state like Minnesota has relatively lower compensation for Asian women’s labor, with Asian women earning 72 cents for every dollar earned by White men in the state. In Minnesota, Indian women only outnumber Burmese women by a roughly 3:1 ratio, leading to comparatively low median wages for Asian women overall when compared to White men.
Where Do We Go From Here?
To correctly address the wage gap, race and ethnicity must be at the forefront of our work.
The experiences of Black, Asian and Hispanic women in the workforce cannot be represented by a single number. No demographic group is a monolith, and a variety of factors including education level, age, immigration status, ethnicity and place of national origin can have compounding impacts to the experiences of women from different ethno-racial groups. Women of color are highly concentrated in jobs that tend to offer lower wages, and are more likely to face discrimination in workplace hiring and promotions.
The maps and analyses above demonstrate the differences in the experiences of working women between ethno-racial groups, showing how the size and consistency with which women experience the wage gap can vary greatly along racial and ethnic lines. Thus, reaching a just economy for women will include both lowering the wage volatility for women of all groups, and shrinking the size of the wage gap for all women.