By Thuy Lan Nguyen
Millions of people have been put out of work by the COVID-19 pandemic. We know women have been more impacted by pandemic job loss than men largely because industries hit hardest by the virus, hospitality and retail, are mostly led by women.
This shift of low-wage women leaving the workforce has pointed the discussion to the gender wage gap. It’s known that women make less than white non-Hispanic men. Women of color make even less for every dollar their male counterparts do. For every dollar white non-Hispanic men make at work, white women make 79 cents, Black women make 62 cents, Hispanic or Latino women make 54 cents and American Indian and Alaska Native women make 57 cents.
The Institute for Women’s Policy Research found that in 2020, the weekly gender wage gap for all full-time workers went from 18.5 percent to 17.7 percent, meaning the difference in pay between men and women got smaller.
That’s not good news, though.
