October 22, 2003 (The Editor’s Desk is updated each business day.)

Differences in women's and men's earnings by race and Hispanic origin

The women’s-to-men’s earnings ratio varies by race and Hispanic origin.

[Chart data—TXT]

In 2002, black women’s earnings were 90.7 percent of black men’s, and Hispanic women earned 88.2 percent as much as Hispanic men. The earnings difference between women and men continued to be widest for whites. White women's earnings were just 78.2 percent as much as white men's in 2002.

These data come from the Current Population Survey, a national monthly survey of approximately 60,000 households. To learn more, see "Highlights of Women’s Earnings in 2002," BLS Report 972 (PDF 188K). Earnings data in this article are median usual weekly earnings of full-time wage and salary workers. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race; thus they are included in both the white and black population groups.  

 

Related TED Article: 

• Women’s earnings 78 percent of men’s in 2002