By U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Jenya Cassidy, director, California Work & Family Coalition
The 2021 wage gap of $0.63 means that it takes Black women in America all the way until August 3, 2021 to earn what non-Hispanic white men finished making on December 31, 2020. For Black mothers, the wage gap is even worse as they receive only $0.50 for every dollar non-Hispanic white fathers are paid.
Beyond the obvious injustice of unequal pay for Black women’s equal work in this country, we know that Black women are doing the work our country desperately relies on to keep moving. That has been especially true throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
The story of Black women carrying out the essential work of this nation could not be more true than in caregiving. Roughly 1 in 5 child care workers and 1 in 5 domestic caregiving workers are Black women. They do the essential work to ensure the next generation of children can grow, learn, and thrive, and that the tens of thousands of Americans who turn 65 every day will have the care they deserve to age safely, and with dignity.
Yet the pay gap Black women experience every day has a particularly harmful impact on the American workforce. Black women in the child care sector make only $0.78 for every dollar made by their white colleagues, and poverty rates are over 50% higher for them compared to women generally. The median hourly wage for Black domestic workers falls just above the poverty line, yielding a poverty rate among Black domestic workers of nearly 1 in 5 (18.5%).
As families quarantined during the COVID-19 pandemic and parents tried to work from home while their children completed their schoolwork remotely, Americans everywhere felt the impact of not having access to affordable caregiving in place. We cannot afford to wait any longer to invest in our essential caregiving infrastructure, and especially the women of color who do this work for all families.
