The U.S. economy has bounced back at a stunning pace since 2020's coronavirus recession – yet this recovery has largely left behind Black women.
Throughout much of the pandemic and consistently since December, Black women's unemployment (5.8%) has been significantly higher than that of Latinas, Asian women and white women, according to research from the National Women's Law Center.
Experts point to several possible factors widening the recovery gap, with hiring discrimination, burnout and a lack of substantial benefits in lower-paid industries at the top of the list.
"If you look at the experiences of Black women in corporate America, the pattern is really clear: the workplace is worse for women of color than white women, and Black women consistently stand out as having the worst experience of all," Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of Leanin.org, tells CNBC Make It. "So Black women have been hit especially hard by the pandemic's economic downturn."
CNBC Make It spoke with Thomas and other experts about the main issues driving this economic gap and how employers can better support Black women in the workplace.
Burning out in front-line jobs
Black women have shouldered a disproportionate share of front-line jobs throughout the coronavirus crisis that have put them at a higher risk of contracting the virus. More than 1 in 3 Black women have worked in front-line jobs, the NWLC reports, including roles as personal care aides, nursing assistants, cashiers and retail salespeople.
These industries have been the hardest hit by the pandemic and continue to be vulnerable to coronavirus restrictions and shutdowns. The recovery of these jobs remains sluggish and uneven: in January, women>Lack of child care
The>Hiring discrimination
Although the 2020 murder of George Floyd and the pandemic brought a renewed focus>What companies can do to help
Employers can help mitigate this economic gap by reviewing their benefits, hiring and promotional practices and updating them to be more equitable for women of color.
Such meaningful changes could include including more women of color in the workplace planning and hiring process and broadening paid leave policies, as well as designing clearer, structured promotion and mentorship opportunities for Black women.
"A lot of companies don't truly know how many women of color they're hiring or promoting," Thomas says. "To make sure your hiring and promotion processes are fair, you need to track how women of color are moving through your organization."
While the past two years have spurred some leaders to pay closer attention to the challenges Black women face in the workforce, it's important to recognize that Black women have been dealing with these issues long before the pandemic – and it could take a long time to see sustainable progress.
"We like to find the silver lining, but the reality is, things have been really bad for Black women," Nikki Tucker, the head of social at Leanin.org, says. "The pandemic has just finally opened a lot of people's eyes to the things Black women have been going through all of our lives."
