Wage Gap Could Cost Black Women $1 Million, Study Finds.
On average, Black women earn $50,470 annually, while White men make $79,950. This gap continues across states, education levels, and job sectors.
A new study reveals that a Black woman working full-time year-round could lose over $1 million over a 40-year career compared to a White man. The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) highlights that these lost wages could have gone toward a home down payment, retirement savings, and children’s education. Instead, this financial gap undermines stability and limits long-term wealth for Black families.
IWPR’s report shows that the wage gap is both wide and persistent. At the current rate, it could take over 200 years—until at least 2227—to close this gap.
Black women are the most educated working group in America, earning more college degrees than any other racial or gender group. However, their pay doesn’t reflect their education or match that of their counterparts. Despite higher educational attainment and workforce participation, Black women earn only 64.4 cents for every dollar earned by White men.
On average, Black women earn $50,470 annually, while White men make $79,950. This gap remains consistent across states, education levels, and professions.
Dr. Jamila K. Taylor, president and CEO of IWPR, states, “This evidence confirms what researchers and Black women have long known. The wage gap isn’t new, and it transcends geography, education, and occupation.”
She adds, “For Black women, there’s no amount of time, location, degree, or career step that will lead us to pay equity.”
Key Study Findings
In Washington, DC, Black women earn $66,000 annually, while White men earn $125,000, creating a $59,000 pay gap—the largest in the country.
Black women with a bachelor’s degree earn just 62.7% of what White men with the same degree earn.
The gap persists even at the highest education levels: Black women with professional degrees earn 59.0% of what their White male counterparts make.
IWPR’s Recommendations for Closing the Wage Gap
IWPR urges policymakers to take immediate action. Their recommendations include enforcing salary transparency, banning salary history in hiring, raising the federal minimum wage, and investing more in low-wage, care-based sectors.
Other suggestions are expanding access to paid family and medical leave, increasing funding for affordable childcare and eldercare, and enhancing enforcement of anti-discrimination laws related to pay, hiring, and promotion.
“In a political climate where inequality is often oversimplified or blamed on individual performance, this research offers crucial context,” Taylor says. “Our findings show that the wage gap Black women face is not due to personal choices, but rather systemic racism and sexism ingrained in the U.S. labor market and workplaces. I hope our data will help make these barriers more visible, so policymakers can create informed solutions.”
