The Persistence of Racial Inequality: The Earnings Gap Among Women From 1979 to 2018

This study demonstrates that examining racial earnings gaps among women across marital and parental status obscures the picture of whether observed labor market trends indicate movement toward greater or lesser racial equity. Racist gender norms have historically been expressed through White women remaining outside of the formal labor force and Black women being coerced to work outside their homes as slaves and then as paid workers. This racist gender norm has faded for unmarried White women but has remained in operation among White married mothers longer. I account for this racist gender norm by conducting a within-household-type analysis of racial gaps in labor market outcomes. I find a persistent White earnings premium of about 10% among single women from 1979 to 2018. The patterns among married women with and without children appear to be converging with those among single women, as White married women are increasingly able to leverage their racial privilege to realize higher earnings as opposed to lower labor force activity relative to Black women. I conclude that racial inequity among women in the labor market has persisted over the past four decades and will likely worsen.