Higher Risks, Lower Rewards: The Hidden Toll on Black Women Working in Health Care

Across the economy, Black women are disproportionately channeled into jobs with low wages and high levels of stress, uncertainty, and physical risk. Today, more than 1 in 5 Black women in the labor market works in the health sector, and while there are pathways to higher-paying, stable jobs such as registered nursing, Black women are significantly overrepresented in lower-paying, more insecure positions such as long-term care jobs and health aides and underrepresented in higher-paying, more secure positions such as physicians, nurse practitioners, and registered nurses.