Wage gap hurts black American women
BLACK women receive 17% less pay than their white women counterparts and a whopping 63% less than white men, according to a report on Black Women’s Equal Pay Day.
Speaking out against the discrepancies, two leaders of “We Dream in Black”, a programme instituted by the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) told of their experiences of the racial and gender wage gap.
A North Carolina home care worker, Priscilla Smith,said: “I go to work five days of the week and my day starts from the moment my feet hit the floor.
“I have to get the kids ready, prepare their food, make sure the power is still on, and still make it on time to catch the city bus.
“Black women have to work twice as hard, and we’re always trying to prove ourselves.”
According to a new report, “The Status of Black Women”, from the NDWA and Institute for Women’s Policy Research, black women face racism and sexism in the US.
The report explains that black women, who play the role of provider in 80% of black households, are subject to poverty more often than any other race group in the US.
Ludie Delva, who has worked as a nanny in Haiti and France and now lives in Brooklyn, New York, has spent 10 years in the country trying to make ends meet.
“I’ve had clients who hardly paid me a minimum wage for taking care of their 3-month old baby as a live-in nanny. And others who expected me to work two jobs for the pay of one!” Delva said.
“We are working so hard, taking care of children and families. The system must change for black women. We have been abused in so many ways.” teleSUR