Equal Pay Gains Dampened as Wage Gaps Widen for Women of Color

Some incremental progress has been made in the effort to bring equal pay to women in the workplace, but data indicate women of color still face certain inequities exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic, widening their respective wage gaps from last year.

Average hourly earnings for all workers picked up by 5.1% over the past year through June, according to the Labor Department’s June Jobs Report released July 8. The report concurrently showed that while the workforce participation rate for White women remained steady, workforce participation rates for Black women and women overall declined in the last month, underscoring the economic ...