Although Black women are now the most educated group in America, their paychecks are a long way off from reflecting that.
While the pay gap is extreme when comparing women to men, the numbers are excruciatingly painful for Black women, who at best make 69 percent of what white men earn. Women overall earn about 80 percent of what their white male counterparts make.
This data comes from an analysis released earlier this year by the National Partnership for Women and Families, that found women employed full-time, year-round across the U.S. are paid just 80 cents for every dollar paid to men. On average, women are losing more than $840 billion each year due to the wage gap, the study points out.
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“Equal Pay Day is a painful reminder that women in this country have had to work more than three months into this year just to catch up with what men were paid last year,” said Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership in the report.
For Black women, the numbers are staggering, as full-time employees are being paid 48-69 cents for every dollar paid to a white male. As the study shows, the states with the largest pay gaps for Black women are Mississippi and Louisiana. The country still has a long way to go before closing the gap.
If the wage gap were eliminated, on average, a Black women would earn enough money for nearly 2.5 more years of child care, three years of more food for her family and almost two dozen more months of rent.
Here’s a breakdown of what the pay gap looks like for Black women state-by-state:
What a Black woman makes for every dollar a White man makes: 65.5 cents
What a Black woman makes for every dollar a White man makes: 68.1 cents
