Black-White Wage Gap Worst in Nearly 40 Years

The wage gap between black and white Americans today is worse than it was in 1979, a new report by the Economic Policy Institute claims. According to the think tank, black men earned an hourly wage that was 22 percent lower than their white counterparts in 1979. In 2015, they earned an average hourly wage that was 31 percent lower. Black women had a wage gap that dropped to 19 percent lower in 2015, down from 6 percent lower in that earlier time period. Valerie Wilson, one of the report’s authors, said: “The finding that stands out the most, our major result, is that the racial wage gaps were larger in 2015 than they were in 1979. That’s huge because the impression people have, in general, is we know there’s still racism in this country, but we think or at least believe that it’s getting better.”