THE ISSUE:
Report finds racial wage gap widest in nearly 4 decades
WASHINGTON (AP) — As wages for American workers have stagnated for more than a generation, the income gap between black and white workers has widened, and discrimination is the main reason for the persisting disparity, according to a new report.
The Economic Policy Institute also found that young black women are being hit the hardest. This gap remains even after controlling for factors like education, experience, or geography.
The wage gap today is "worse now than it was 36 years ago," said Valerie Wilson, director of the liberal-leaning think tank's Program on Race, Ethnicity and the Economy.
"For the most part, wages have been fairly flat since 2000, as have incomes and other economic measures," Wilson said. "As we've seen this overall stagnation, those racial disparities have grown."
According to the report released Tuesday, as of 2015, black men living in similar metropolitan areas and regions of the country make 22 percent less than white men with the same education and experience. For black women, the number is 34.2 percent less. Black women made 11.7 percent less than white women.
The report calls for several policy measures to address the wage gap.
Student Reactions
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Korina Valenzuela, sophomore psychology major “I’ve always known that the wage gap is a lot different between men and women, but not so much [with] different races and everything." |
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Luis Delgado, sophomore marketing major
“You can put in laws, but I don’t know if that’s actually going to change people’s opinions," Delgado said. "People are still going to be discriminating against people of color." |
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Avery Haynes, sophomore business major
"I'm surprised because I feel like we've come a long way," Haynes said. "But then again, it might be a reflection of what's going on socially, too." |
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Qurshiana Leslie, freshman speech pathology major
"Being black in America, you’re automatically at a disadvantage and there’s this construct to put white people on top, so the fact that minorities are making less money in America doesn’t surprise me," Leslie said." |
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