Women in low income jobs: Labor Department

According to a recent analysis conducted by the US Labor Department, women, particularly Black and Hispanic women in low-paying jobs are losing billions of dollars every year which exacerbates an already existing gender pay gap.

The report that was released on Tuesday takes a look at the nation's top 20 jobs with the highest median income, it was observed that nurse practitioner was the only job that had a majority of women. Apart from this, 9 of the highest paying jobs are occupied almost 75% by men, the rest have a more or less equal distribution of men and women. However, it was wavering to see that eight of the lowest paying jobs were occupied predominantly by women. 

This phenomenon is called "occupational segregation" and Black and Hispanic women are more likely to be susceptible to its effects. Labor Department estimates suggest that such differences cost Black women a total of $39.9 billion in potential wages and cost Hispanic women $46.7 billion. Another private analysis confirmed that the gender pay gap especially in low-income jobs persists despite women's increasing level of education. Sarah Jane Glynn who works as a senior advisor at the Labor Department's Women's Bureau said that occupational segregation is harmful in many ways, "it stifles individual potential, but it also inhibits innovation. It makes the labor force less adaptable to changes, and it obviously has impacts on individual families' economic security, but also their ability to spend back into the economy."

According to government data, women who worked full-time jobs in 2020 were paid only 82% of the wages paid to their male counterparts.

Source: CNBC