African American Women Work More, Earn Less: (From the Institute for Women's Policy Research)
For Immediate Release: Tuesday, March 29, 2005Despite recent news stories implying the contrary, on most measures of economic status, U.S. Census Bureau data show that African American women are worse off than white women. This holds true when comparing the median earnings of white and African American full-time, full-year workers at every education level, and when comparing poverty rates and unemployment rates for the two groups. Both white and African American women earn less than comparable men.
According to recently released 2004 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, African American women working full-time, full-year earn $26,992 in median annual earnings, compared with $32,036 earned by comparable white women workers.Among those with a bachelor's degree alone, African American women earn $38,160 compared with $40,700 earned by comparable white women. African American women are also less likely than white women to hold bachelor's degrees or higher, with only 16.7% of African American women holding bachelor's degrees in 2004, compared with 24.6% of white women.
When comparing the median earnings of all workers (regardless of work schedule or amount of time worked), college-educated African American women do earn slightly more than white women. This is likely due to the greater work effort shown by African American women who tend to work more than other women with the same educational background. Recent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute shows that college-educated African American women work, on average, 1,923 hours per year, compared to the 1,734 hours per year worked by college-educated white women.
"That disparity adds up to over a month of additional full-time work by African American women. With that level of work effort, it would be a tragedy if African American women weren't earning more," comments Avis Jones-DeWeever, Study Director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
But for many, working more is not enough. Census Data from 2003 also show that African American women are far more likely to live in poverty than are white women, with 26.5% of African American women, and 9.1% of white women living in poverty.
African American women have also been much harder hit by unemployment during the recent jobless recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the February 2005 unemployment rate for African American women at 9.2%, was also more than double that experienced by white women at 4.0%.
"Taken together, these data point to the need to strengthen policies designed to improve educational and work opportunities for African American women," said Dr. Jones-DeWeever. "Such policies include protecting and strengthening the enforcement of affirmative action policies, improving access to financial assistance for low-income students, and allowing more education and training to count as work under welfare reform."
Hispanic women fare especially poorly on most economic measures. Their median annual earnings in 2003 were $22,369, and in 2003, 24.4% lived in poverty. Only 10.6% of Hispanic women held bachelor's degrees or higher in 2004.
Asian American women had relatively high median annual earnings for all full-time workers, at $32,774 in 2003. Median annual earnings for full-time, year-round Asian American women workers with a bachelor's degree were even higher at $45,105 in 2003. Asian American women have higher educational levels than other groups, with 42.7% holding bachelor's degree or higher in 2004. However, Asian American women experienced higher rates of poverty compared with white women, with 12.0% of Asian American women living in poverty.
The Institute for Women's Policy Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization dedicated to informing and stimulating the debate on public policy issues of critical importance to women and their families. The Institute can be found on the web at www.iwpr.org.
-30-
CONTACT:
Jean Sinzdak
Institute for Women's Policy Research
email: sinzdak@iwpr.org
phone: (202) 785-5100
www.iwpr.org
According to recently released 2004 data from the U.S. Census Bureau, African American women working full-time, full-year earn $26,992 in median annual earnings, compared with $32,036 earned by comparable white women workers.Among those with a bachelor's degree alone, African American women earn $38,160 compared with $40,700 earned by comparable white women. African American women are also less likely than white women to hold bachelor's degrees or higher, with only 16.7% of African American women holding bachelor's degrees in 2004, compared with 24.6% of white women.
When comparing the median earnings of all workers (regardless of work schedule or amount of time worked), college-educated African American women do earn slightly more than white women. This is likely due to the greater work effort shown by African American women who tend to work more than other women with the same educational background. Recent analysis conducted by the Economic Policy Institute shows that college-educated African American women work, on average, 1,923 hours per year, compared to the 1,734 hours per year worked by college-educated white women.
"That disparity adds up to over a month of additional full-time work by African American women. With that level of work effort, it would be a tragedy if African American women weren't earning more," comments Avis Jones-DeWeever, Study Director at the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
But for many, working more is not enough. Census Data from 2003 also show that African American women are far more likely to live in poverty than are white women, with 26.5% of African American women, and 9.1% of white women living in poverty.
African American women have also been much harder hit by unemployment during the recent jobless recovery. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the February 2005 unemployment rate for African American women at 9.2%, was also more than double that experienced by white women at 4.0%.
"Taken together, these data point to the need to strengthen policies designed to improve educational and work opportunities for African American women," said Dr. Jones-DeWeever. "Such policies include protecting and strengthening the enforcement of affirmative action policies, improving access to financial assistance for low-income students, and allowing more education and training to count as work under welfare reform."
Hispanic women fare especially poorly on most economic measures. Their median annual earnings in 2003 were $22,369, and in 2003, 24.4% lived in poverty. Only 10.6% of Hispanic women held bachelor's degrees or higher in 2004.
Asian American women had relatively high median annual earnings for all full-time workers, at $32,774 in 2003. Median annual earnings for full-time, year-round Asian American women workers with a bachelor's degree were even higher at $45,105 in 2003. Asian American women have higher educational levels than other groups, with 42.7% holding bachelor's degree or higher in 2004. However, Asian American women experienced higher rates of poverty compared with white women, with 12.0% of Asian American women living in poverty.
The Institute for Women's Policy Research is a nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research organization dedicated to informing and stimulating the debate on public policy issues of critical importance to women and their families. The Institute can be found on the web at www.iwpr.org.
-30-
CONTACT:
Jean Sinzdak
Institute for Women's Policy Research
email: sinzdak@iwpr.org
phone: (202) 785-5100
www.iwpr.org
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