The Changing Face of American Women

By ANGELA GLOVER BLACKWELL, one of America’s leading authorities on race and poverty issues and founder and CEO of PolicyLink, a national research and action institute advancing economic and social equity. She served as senior vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation and as a partner at Public Advocates, a nationally-recognized public interest law firm.

The story of the mid-21st century is this: The face of America is changing. Whether that turns out to be a story of triumph or disaster will depend on how the nation deals with the centuries-old conundrums of race and gender. By 2045, the majority of women—and most women in the workforce—will be women of color.¹

This shift has already occurred in California, Texas, New Mexico, and a growing list of metropolitan regions around the country. In 2012, for the first time, the majority of newborn girls in the United States—51 percent—were girls of color.² An astonishing 92 percent of the nation’s population growth over the past decade has come from people of color—primarily Latinos, Asian Americans, and people who identify as mixed-race.³ If we want to secure the economic future for women, children, and the nation as a whole, we must embrace and invest in these demographic changes.

Race and ethnicity lie at the root of the contradiction that this Shriver Report explores, which is why women have come so far, yet are more vulnerable than ever. Longstanding racial inequities have resulted in significant gaps in education, health, and wealth among the very groups our nation will rely upon to provide the innovators and leaders of tomorrow. These gaps leave women of color lagging far behind their white counterparts on just about every measure of well-being.

For every dollar in wealth owned by white women, women of color have only a fraction of a penny.⁴ Women of color are twice as likely to work in low-wage sectors such as the service industry.⁵ Yet they must succeed if we are to put women and their children on a more secure economic footing. In short, alleviating poverty and eliminating gender disparities requires racial equity: just and fair inclusion in a society in which all can participate and prosper.

To make the progress that women need, the women’s movement must learn to see through a racial lens. The idea that women can have the same fair shot at success as men has always been a pipe dream for the millions of girls and women of color saddled with going to failing schools, living in underinvested communities, and watching their men struggle with high unemployment and other barriers to opportunity. Now that women of color are becoming the majority, the degree to which they are disadvantaged limits the progress women have made in this country.

Broad measures of gender inequality mask the depth of distress in communities of color. As we highlight throughout this report, women working full time earn only 77 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts. But African American women earn only 70 cents on that dollar,⁶ and Latina women earn less than 60 cents.⁷ In 2011, 14.6 percent of all American women were poor, the highest rate in 18 years. But African American and Latina women had even higher poverty rates—26 percent and 24 percent, respectively.⁸ And more than one-fifth of the nation’s children live in poverty, the worst rate in the developed world. The numbers are even higher for children of color: 38 percent of African American children and 35 percent of Latino children are poor.⁹

No nation can afford to squander the contributions of such a large segment of its population. But America is only beginning to recognize that racial and cultural diversity is a tremendous asset in an increasingly competitive global economy. Diversity can inspire knowledge-driven innovations that arise from a mix of ideas, perspectives, and backgrounds. It can provide the broad skills, flexibility, and openness to others that we need to succeed in an ever-changing, interconnected world. If we adopt a growth model grounded in the American ideals of fairness, inclusion, and opportunity for all, we can ensure that our economy will remain preeminent.

Dee Saint Franc, left, was raised in Rhode Island’s foster care system. She worked her way through school while raising her daughter, Azariah, and now works two jobs. She relies on foster family members for help with child care. {BARBARA RIES}

La Cocina, a restaurant incubator in San Francisco, California, helps women start their own businesses. Rosa Flores is one of the many entrepreneurial Latina women working in its kitchen. {BARBARA RIES}

This means advancing three broad policy goals:

1. GROW GOOD JOBS. We can start with two areas of major importance to women. First, entrepreneurship: Before the recession effectively halted lending, women of color were launching businesses at a faster pace than any other group. For instance, the number of African American female-owned firms increased by 67 percent from 2002 to 2007. Businesses owned by women of color employed 1.2 million workers and generated $186.2 billion in gross receipts.¹⁰ Federal programs that make capital available must target women entrepreneurs of color to foster growth and development of a broad range of business ventures, especially ones that create jobs.

Second, we must improve the pay and quality of low-wage jobs, the fastest-growing segment of employment. Women held 62 percent of minimum-wage jobs in 2011, though they represented only 47 percent of the labor force.¹¹ Strong union protections and increases in the federal minimum wage would benefit all women.

2. BUILD CAPABILITIES. By 2018, 45 percent of jobs will require at least an associate’s degree, but among today’s workers, only 27 percent of African Americans, 26 percent of U.S.-born Latinos, and 14 percent of Latino immigrants have achieved this level of education.¹² If we do not raise education levels among our fastest-growing communities, we will lose our edge in the global economy. There are a few good places to begin to close the gap: strengthening the community college system, expanding universal pre-K, ensuring equitable school financing in all neighborhoods, and increasing science and technology education for girls and children of color.

3. ELIMINATE BARRIERS TO SUCCESS AND EXPAND OPPORTUNITIES. Targeting gender barriers is important but insufficient. Deep, sustained progress also requires the dismantling of the racial barriers to economic inclusion and civic participation.

Sadly, in America, one’s address has become a proxy for opportunity. While federal and state laws prohibit many overtly discriminatory policies, the nation’s map remains carved into separate, shamefully unequal communities. Unaddressed racial discrimination in housing has concentrated poor and low-wage families of color in communities with failing schools, few jobs, inadequate transportation that can connect to jobs, and unsafe neighborhoods. More than half of Latinos and nearly 65 percent of African Americans live in neighborhoods of color¹³—generally low-income ones. Two-thirds of black children live in high-poverty communities, compared to 6 percent of white children—a percentage that has not changed in 30 years.¹⁴ To level the playing field, investments and policies must be aimed at rebuilding distressed communities, turning them into communities of opportunity that can provide access to strong schools, good jobs, reliable transportation, and other vital services.

As the nation’s economic challenges converge with changing demographics, we have a golden opportunity. It’s time to link women’s advocacy with advocacy for racial equity. That is how we can build a just, fair, and prosperous society for everyone.