Washington, D.C. — New analysis on Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander (AANHPI) Equal Pay Day from the Center for American Progress and the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum examines labor market outcomes for AANHPI women by ethnicity. This analysis finds that many AANHPI women have the greatest wage gaps and are concentrated in low-paid work. Five key takeaways from this original analysis include:
- Certain groups of AANHPI women face some of the highest wage gaps. Among all workers, the typical AANHPI woman makes 83 cents for every $1 made by white, non-Hispanic men. Looking further at the wage gap for this group reveals even larger wage gaps. For example, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women make 61 cents for every $1 of white, non-Hispanic men, and Burmese, Nepalese, and Bangladeshi women make about 54 cents, 62 cents, and 72 cents on the dollar, respectively.
- AANHPI women are more likely to be immigrants. Seventy-seven percent of AANHPI women are immigrants, and 49 percent are naturalized citizens.
- AANHPI women have unemployment rates comparable to those of white, non-Hispanic men but disproportionately earn less than $30,000 per year and have lower labor force participation. More than 1 in 3 working AANHPI women earn $30,000 or less annually—equivalent to the annual salary of a $17 per hour full-time, year-round worker. This is less than half the mean annual wage across all occupations for the typical full-time, year-round worker in the United States in 2023.
- Most AANHPI women work in lower-paid service occupations. This analysis finds that Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Vietnamese, and Native Hawaiian women are heavily represented in low-wage, service-oriented jobs such as cashiers, waitresses, aides, and assemblers.
- Education doesn’t explain the wage gap for many AANHPI women. Fifty-five percent of AANHPI women have a bachelor’s degree or higher, compared with 38 percent of white, non-Hispanic men. Yet, while higher education is associated with higher-paid employment, advanced qualifications do not guarantee higher-paying or better-skill-matched jobs.
“It’s clear that the aggregated data of AANHPI women in the labor market fails to tell the whole story. When we dig into the details, we see that AANHPI women are still suffering deeply from the gender wage gap and too often get stuck in low-quality jobs with little advancement opportunity,” said Sara Estep, economist at the Center for American Progress and co-author of the analysis. “Policymakers must protect the surveys that allow us to produce disaggregated data to ensure policy solutions align with the specific challenges facing different AANHPI communities.”
“This labor market analysis reflects the lived experiences of AANHPI women and some of the challenges that they face in working to achieve economic stability and building wealth for themselves and their families. Despite stereotypes perpetuated by the model minority myth—that Asian Americans have already achieved success and wealth—the data shows that across all job types, even high-paying ones, AANHPI women still endure a wage gap that over the course of their careers costs them the ability to thrive. We must continue advocating for combined policy solutions that will move us toward economic justice for AANHPI women, and in turn, for all,” said Sydelle Barreto, policy manager at the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
Read the analysis: “5 Facts About the Labor Market Experiences of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Women” by Mimla Wardak, Sydelle Barreto, Natalie Baker, and Sara Estep
For more information or to speak with an expert, please contact Sarah Nadeau at [email protected].