While women overall still made just 77 cents for each dollar men made last year, that gap is far wider for women of color. In an analysis of recent Census data, the National Women’s Law Center finds that an African-American woman working full time, year round made just 64 cents for every dollar a white man made and Hispanic women made just 54 cents.
NWLC notes that these racial and gender wage gaps mean that black women lost $18,650 compared to white men and Hispanic women lost $24,111.
Even worse, the gap seems to be growing. The year before, black women made 69 cents for every dollar made by a white man and Latinas made 60 cents.
Women of color face gender discrimination that means 13 percent of women report being denied a raise because of their gender and about a third say they would be paid more if they were a man. Seventy percent of women say that being paid less than men is a major problem. A third of women say they have experienced discrimination based on their gender and 15 percent say they’ve been passed over for a promotion or other opportunity for the same reason.
But they also face racial discrimination that means black workers earn $22,552 less than white workers a year on average and Hispanic workers earn $16,861 less. Income for black workers fell 14.6 percent between 2000 and 2010 and the recession doubled the wealth gap between white and black households. Black workers have also experienced a decade of consistently high unemployment but when they do get hired are often kept from the top ranks.