The COVID-19 pandemic and related recession has both highlighted the persistent racial and gendered economic inequalities that Black women face in the labor market and exacerbated them. Black women were over-represented in many low-paying jobs recognized as “essential” during the pandemic, but dismissed as “low-skilled” before. Despite this recognition, these jobs continue to be undervalued with low wages and few benefits, and if pay trends continue, it will take Black women more than another hundred years—until 2133—to reach pay equity with White men.
Join the Institute for Women’s Policy Research and Equal Pay Today for a discussion of recent research on the pay gap for Black women, the causes and consequences of racial and gender pay disparities, and policy strategies for pay equity. Waiting another century is not an option.
