Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty for Working Latinas in the U.S.?

By Karla Fernandez Parker

As a multicultural marketer, I am always reviewing how to reach different groups. As a Latina executive, I’m particularly interested in the evolution of spending power. National Latina Equal Pay Day, which was Oct. 8th, seems like an ideal time for an assessment.

There’s much to be positive about, as revealed in the US Latina GDP Report. In 2021, U.S. Latinas had $1.3 trillion in economic output, up from $661 billion just a decade before! Another key finding in the study is that the GDP of U.S. Latinas is on a significant growth trajectory, growing at 2.7 times the rate of non-Hispanic GDP and 1.2 times that of Hispanic male GDP.

Much of this is due to the increase in labor force participation among Latinas. Between 2010 and 2021, the number of Latinas in the U.S. labor force increased by 32.9%, compared to 2.7% for non-Hispanic females. Now, Latinas are 2.5% more likely to be in the active labor force compared to non-Hispanic females. Some of the drivers of these trends have to do with working age, as Latinas are, on average, younger than their non-Hispanic female counterparts.

A major contributor is also related to educational attainment, especially among U.S.-born and younger Latinas. Latinas with a bachelor’s degree or higher increased by 103% during this same period — a much larger gain than the 38.3% seen among non-Hispanic females. Education is also contributing to Latina income growth, which is up 46% compared to only 18.5% for the non-Hispanic female cohort.

Now for the half-empty side of things. Latinas are still suffering from a wide wage gap, according to Pew Research. Latinas earn, on average, 85 cents for every dollar earned by Hispanic males in 2023. When compared to non-Hispanic white males, it’s worse at only 62 cents to each dollar.

These numbers vary by state. In six states—California, New Jersey, Texas, Maryland, Connecticut, and Utah—Latinas’ median annual earnings actually fell to 50% of those of non-Hispanic white males. At the current rate of decline, economists don’t expect parity for at least another generation.

While Latinas are making gains in higher education attainment and starting small businesses, significant strides are still needed, especially for non-U.S.-born individuals and those in lower-paying service sector jobs. With a desperate need for high-skilled workers across the U.S., one would hope that states with the most significant disparities would be looking to this demographic to address their labor shortages and upskill these critical Latina workers from pink-collar jobs to blue- and white-collar jobs. There is also a significant need for access to and affordability of child care, which affects this demographic particularly hard.