Race, Ethnicity, and Wage Inequality Among Women

Abstract

This article examines trends in Black-White and Latina-White wage inequality among women from 1989 to 2003. Building on Bound and Dresser’s conclusion that the Black-White earnings gap widened in the 1980s, the authors find that in the 1990s and early 21st century, the Black-White earnings differential remained fairly constant and that education plays a pivotal role in the Latina-White earnings gap. In every year, Latinas show larger wage differences with Whites than Black women; however, when controlling education and experience, Black women see the greatest earnings disadvantage in comparison to White women. Although the Latina-White earnings differential stood at parity in 1989, a wage gap opened and steadily increased through the 1990s and into the 21st century. This trend was not the result of an influx of Latinas with few years of schooling entering the labor force; the largest opening in relative wages occurred among Latinas with a college degree.