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Equal Pay Day for black women marks a persistent wage gap

A worker uses a sewing machine at Shinola Watch factory on January 4, 2017 in Detroit, Michigan.

Jeff Kowalsky/AFP/Getty Images

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A black woman earning a median salary last year would have caught up to the white man’s median pay last year … just yesterday. Black women earned 61 cents for each dollar their white male counterparts earned last year, according to analysis from the National Women’s Law Center.

Historically, women have worked in lower-paying occupations, especially black women. For Latina women, the gap is even wider. Women are also more likely to drop out of the workforce for stretches to care for relatives or children. But even accounting for those differences, and comparing similar jobs, education and experience levels, researchers find persistent wage gaps for women of color.

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