AAPI women have the smallest pay gap, but let’s investigate further

Before we dive in... Here is some context on AAPI women in the U.S. workforce. (Source: Center for American Progress):

• The AAPI population is comprised of over 50 ethnic groups

• There are an estimated 12.7 million AAPI women living in the U.S.

• 27% of employed AAPI women are essential workers. Of these workers, about 75% work in the health care or food services field.

• In 2019, more than 1.4 million AAPI women were working jobs that had median hourly earnings below $15.

• Though Asian Americans make up 13% of all working professionals, they make up just 6% of executive leadership positions

The media report AAPI women’s median earnings, as compared to white men, is $0.90 to their $1.00. Yet, that’s misleading. Taiwanese, Indian, Malaysian and Chinese women earn, on average, more than white men, but among other groups, the disparities grow significantly, with Burmese women at the bottom earning just 52 cents to the white man's dollar. (Source: napawf.org)

Reporting that AAPI women make 90 cents to the white man's dollar just doesn't paint the full picture.

Investments need to be made in collecting data on various AAPI subgroups so that they can show up as “statistically significant" and more accurate statistics can be developed.

"The pay gap gets aggregated so high because Chinese Americans, Japanese Americans, & Indian Americans are higher in population, so they sort of obscure the number for many folks who do not make nearly what some of these other communities are making." - Sung Yeon Choimorrow (Executive Director, National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum)

What can we do?

• Support organizations working to advance the social, political, and economic wellbeing of AAPI communities such as the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum, AAPI Women Lead, and OCA-Asian Pacific American Advocates

• Vote for representatives who are committed to supporting and empowering AAPI communities

• Commit to unlearning and unpacking your own perception of AAPI communities