Each year Latina Equal Pay Day highlights the inequalities that Latinas face in gaining fair and equal compensation compared with non-Hispanic white men in the United States. This year, the day of advocacy lands on Oct. 8, in the middle of Hispanic Heritage Month.
A new data analysis from UCLA’s Latino Policy and Politics Institute shows that Latinas remain the lowest-paid major demographic group in the U.S. workforce. According to the LPPI’s national findings, which were collected from 2023 data sets, the median hourly wage for Latinas was $17 compared with $25 for all men. Over the course of a lifetime, the wage gap between white men and Latinas leads to more than $1 million in lost income.
“Latinas are among the fastest-growing segments of the U.S. workforce, yet they continue to remain at the bottom of the pay scale,” LPPI faculty director Amada Armenta said in a press release about the data analysis. “This is about pay equity and the future of the American economy. When Latinas and all women are paid what they deserve, families are stronger, communities thrive, and the future is brighter for our nation.”
Even with a rise in advanced degree conferral, Latinas face an uphill battle against pay inequities. Over the last 20 years, the percentage of Latina workers over the age of 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree has increased from 11% to 23%. Despite those impressive gains, Latinas with bachelor’s degrees earn $28 an hour — $6 less than Latinos and $15 less than white men with the same level of education.
“Education has always been considered a pathway to mobility, but for Latinas, the pay gap persists after graduation,” said Alondra Cervantes, the co-author of the LPPI’s data analysis, in a press release.
How much Latinas get paid varies greatly between age groups, with the 2023 data showing that the younger a Latina is, the closer she is to wage equality. Latinas in the 16-to-24 age group earned 92 cents for every dollar earned by white men in the same age group. Those ages 25 to 54 earned 63 cents compared with the white male dollar and Latinas from ages 55 to 64 made 53 cents for every dollar earned by white men in the same age group.
There was also a wide variance in the wage gap based on a Latina’s ethnic background. Latinas with Guatemalan and Honduran roots earn 54 cents per dollar made by their white male counterparts. On the other end of the spectrum, Latinas with Chilean and Argentine backgrounds make 79 cents and 82 cents, respectively, compared with the white male dollar.
A significant deviation was noted between U.S. states, with California having the largest pay gap for Latinas. In the Golden State, Latinas earn 49 cents for every dollar earned by their white male counterparts. Other states with large Latina populations, such as Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, saw the demographic make less than 60 cents compared with the white male dollar. Vermont — the state with the smallest Latina population — is the closest to reaching Latina pay equality with Latinas in the Green Mountain State earning 96 cents for every dollar made by their white male counterparts.
“These disparities are not isolated or accidental — they are structural,” Armenta said. “Latinas remain systematically undervalued, even as their role in powering the U.S. workforce grows.”
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