© 2026 ABC News

Unemployment rates dropped or remained the same for almost every race or ethnicity except Black women, with an unemployment rate almost double that of white Americans, according to the National Women's Law Center. In August, while many groups joined the labor force, 45,000 Black women left.

Black women also continue to be hit hardest by the student debt crisis in the U.S., with around 1 in 4 Black women holding student debt, according to data from the Census Bureau and the American Association of University Women.

Just over a decade after starting college, Black women, on average, owe 13% more than they borrowed, while white men, on average, have paid off 44% of their debt, according to The Education Trust.

One of the reasons Black women owe so much more in the years after graduating college is the gender pay gap, experts say.

Gloria Blackwell, CEO of the American Association of University Woman, said because Black women earn less, many are burdened by student debt for the larger part of their career. She described what Black women face in the workplace as the \"perfect storm\" of both a racial wealth gap and gender pay gap.

\"When you are a Black woman and you have this burden of student loans, it impacts every aspect of your life,\" Blackwell told ABC News last month. \"It impacts whether you can pay for basic living expenses, whether you can afford transportation or even the rent in order to have a decent place to live, let alone save for a house or be able to start a family or take care of your family. It's a burden on Black women on whether they can save for retirement or afford rent or be able to move to a better neighborhood.\"

Black women enroll in college at higher rates than other groups. However, a 2020 report from the Lean In organization found that the gender pay gap is largest for Black women who have bachelor's degrees.

\"Black women are ambitious -- they're more likely than white men (35%) and white women (26%) to say they want to become top executives,\" the report stated. \"But even in the same job, Black women are paid less than white men.\"

Today is Black and African-American women's Equal Pay Day, a day to acknowledge the pay gap that Black and African American women face. Black women make an average of 58 cents for every dollar paid to men. Join us in bringing awareness. #BWHIEqualPayDay22 #BlackWomensEqualPayDay pic.twitter.com/PERY4SqYZY

— African American Wellness Project (@TheAAWP) September 21, 2022

Experts including Blackwell and Nicole Mason, president and CEO of the Institute for Women's Policy Research, say the solution for closing the gender pay gap for Black women needs to come from both the government and private sectors.

On the federal level, Mason said the passage of legislation like the Paycheck Fairness Act can help promote pay equity and transparency, while enforcement of existing civil rights and equal employment laws can help lower workplace discrimination.

\"Employers have a role to play in terms of making sure there is pay equity and making sure that women across the board earn what they're worth and the skills and talents they bring to the table,\" Mason previously told ABC News. \"And as a culture and a society, we have a lot of work to do in terms of breaking gender stereotypes around women in the workplace, their value and how much women should be paid for their work.\"

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Living/money-black-women-lose-pay-gap/story?id=90207171","legacySlug":"/living/story/money-black-women-lose-pay-gap-90207171","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"09:16","publishDate":"09-21-2022","updatedTime":"16:20","updatedDate":"09-21-2022","socialImage":{"alt":"A Black businesswoman enters a boardroom for a business meeting in an undated stock image.","credit":"STOCK PHOTO/Monkeybusinessimages/Getty Images","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/equal-pay-black-women-02-gty-llr-220920_1663701760690_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"9/21/2022 09:16:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":90207171,"headline":"This is how much Black women lose to pay gap ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Black woman's equal pay day_220920","description":"Black women have to work until September to earn what men did last year.","duration":"1:36","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2022/04/220413_gma_abdi_0802_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["54340598","88794992","79157108"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"April 10, 2018","headline":"Catt Sadler and female leaders on how to nail salary negotiation","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/equal-pay-day-catt-sadler-female-leaders-nail-54340598","id":54340598,"image":{"alt":"Catt Sadler and female leaders on how to nail salary negotiation","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/catt-sadler1-gty-mem-180409_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Donato Sardella/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"August 25, 2022","headline":"Black women applaud Biden's student loan policy but say more must be done","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/black-women-burdened-student-debt-bidens-student-loan-88794992","id":88794992,"image":{"alt":"Black women applaud Biden's student loan policy but say more must be done","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/black-women-graduating-01-gty-iwb-220825_1661443891736_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Paras Griffin/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"August 3, 2021","headline":"Black women lose nearly $1M over a lifetime due to gender wage gap ","section":"living","slug":"/living/story/black-women-lose-1m-lifetime-due-gender-wage-79157108","id":79157108,"image":{"alt":"Black women lose nearly $1M over a lifetime due to gender wage gap ","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/US/woman-office-gty-jt-210803_1628015484743_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"STOCK IMAGE/Getty Images","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"This is how much Black women lose to pay gap ","description":"Black women have to work until September to earn what men did last year.","duration":"1:36","uploadDate":"09-21-2022","publication":"09-21-2022","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2022/04/220413_gma_abdi_0802_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2022/04/220413_gma_abdi_0802_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/living/story/money-black-women-lose-pay-gap-90207171"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133730535","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:living:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"living","title":"This is how much Black women lose to pay gap ","pubTime":"05:16","pubDate":"09-21-2022","modTime":"12:20","modDate":"09-21-2022","taxonomyTags":"none","id":90207171,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"This is how much Black women lose to pay gap ","mediaAssetTitle":"GMA_Black woman's equal pay day_220920","videoId":90207171,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/living/story/money-black-women-lose-pay-gap-90207171"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/90207171","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/90207171","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};