6.8.21
A new report by S&P Global explains how the advancement of black women can build a better economy for all.
Black women in America face several hurdles to success, particularly regarding educational and professional opportunities, with the white-Black wage gap for female professionals at $12,700 in 2019. These inequities also mean lost productivity and lost economic growth.
If educational attainment among Black women had kept pace with that of white women from 1960-2019, the U.S. would have generated an additional $107 billion in economic activity.
Moreover, if Black women had also been in positions that better matched their education and skill sets, the productivity boost would have added an overall $507 billion to the world’s biggest economy.
If the educational and professional gaps between Black and white women had been closed, a Black college-educated female professional would have made $5,000 more in annual wages in 2019. A still-large ($7,600) gap exists even controlling for the quality of education.