Senator Kamala Harris wants to end the Pay Gap for Black Women acknowledging Equal Pay Day on July 31st.
It’s been said that Black women make 63 cents on the dollar for every $1 of her majority male counterpart. Her point is that the 37 cent difference can add up in the long term and make a huge difference in lifetime earnings, which in turn means less savings and less smart investments to build wealth.
I think the point is relevant because a large percentage of my customer base is black women and a large percent of them show to have less than average house hold spending capability. Their wages are lower than the average person and their number of children is higher than average. The neatest thing is that they also have more education than the average too. So one would question, why if your education is higher and more extensive would you make so much less – up to 37 cents less – than your white male counterparts?
This household income difference definitely makes a huge impact on the families that most of these women are supporting. Its been said that in order to make the amount of money a majority male would have made by 60, most black women would have to work well into their 80’s.
Why do we care? Because 8 out of every 10 black homes are run and lead and financed by black women. Black women are huge consumers and if all put together their spending would make them in the trillions of dollars per year, putting them in the same category as a small developed country.
So what can we do? We can empower black women to be better prepared for negotiating their worth on jobs. We can empower black women to get majority counterpart mentors. We can empower black women so that they can pay it forward and empower other black women. And lastly, we can empower other black women leading businesses to hire more black women and pay them fairly.
We care at my business because we have to make sure we are making products that she can afford but also products that she likes. We also have to make products that are interesting and responsive to her needs. Knowing that my customer is smart, has a higher need for family coverage, is likely more knowledgeable than other customers, and has a lower income makes for a specific type of brand to tend to her needs.