Readout of White House Roundtable on Black Women’s Economic Security

Today, Jennifer Klein, Assistant to the President and Director of the Gender Policy Council, Neera Tanden, Assistant to the President and Domestic Policy Advisor, and Mitch Landrieu, Senior Advisor to the President and Infrastructure Implementation Coordinator, met with leaders and advocates on efforts to advance Black women’s economic security, especially equal pay.

Among full-time, year-round workers, Black women typically make 69 cents for every dollar paid to white, non-Hispanic men, undermining their financial security and costing them nearly one million dollars over a 40-year career. This is compared to the broader gender wage gap, for which women working full-time year-round are typically paid 84 cents, on average, for every dollar paid to their male counterparts. Participants discussed the many factors that contribute to gender and racial wage gaps, including outright pay discrimination, barriers to accessing good-paying jobs, and disproportionate caregiving responsibilities.

Senior Administration officials shared the actions that the Biden-Harris Administration has taken to close wage gaps, including by serving as a model employer and working to prohibit the use of salary history for federal workers and employees of federal contractors. They highlighted efforts to strengthen child care infrastructure, such as through the President’s historic Executive Order to expand access to high-quality, affordable care. And they also underscored work to ensure women have access to the millions of good-paying jobs created by the President’s historic Investing in America agenda, including in sectors where they have historically been underrepresented, such as transportation, construction, and clean energy.

White House officials and participants discussed strategies for further closing wage gaps, as well as opportunities for partnership to continue advancing the economic security of Black women and their families.

• Shavon Arline-Bradley, President and CEO, National Council of Negro Women
• Melanie Campbell, President and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation, National Convener, Black Women’s Roundtable
• Jocelyn Frye, President, National Partnership for Women and Families
• Fatima Goss Graves, President and CEO, National Women’s Law Center
• Margaret Mitchell, CEO, YWCA USA
• Cherita Ellens, President and CEO, Women Employed
• Cassandra Welchlin, Executive Director, Mississippi Black Women’s Roundtable
• Noreen Farrell, Executive Director, Equal Rights Advocates/Equal Pay Today

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