Money is one of the biggest and most gut-wrenching subjects both in and out of college. And we women, of course, often deal with the injustices that come with unequal pay at our jobs out of college, but for women of color, this is even more of a problem than we thought.
According to Elle yesterday, July 28, marked #BlackWomenEqualPayDay, when plenty of activists stormed social media with the hashtag to represent the unequal wages black women receive in comparison to their white male counterparts. The National Women’s Law Center says that black women must work 19 months to compensate for what white males earn in just a year. Even if on the same work schedules, black women make $19,399 less than white males, and the number is even less for Latinas. Also, black women who have a bachelor’s degree make approximately only $2,306 more than white men with just a high school education make.
Why is there such a gap for black women? The Center for American Progress reports that researchers find the difference is in the job occupation, hours worked and time in the labor force system, which is often a demonstration of structural barriers. “For women of color, the explained factors that contribute to the wage gap are often different that those of white women due to the fact that women of color frequently work in lower-paying jobs, work fewer hours and experience more substantial caregiving burdens.” Researchers also attribute discrimination as a possible cause for the wage gap.
This news comes at a time when there is a push for a woman on the $10 dollar bill, and as the American Association of University Women shows in the video below, #TheNew10 is only the starting point to a larger discussion about women earning less than men.