Workers of color — specifically, black workers, Hispanic workers, and Asian-American workers — are more likely to get paid poverty-level wages than white workers, according to a 2018 analysis by the liberal-leaning think tank Economic Policy Institute.
Black and Hispanic women are also overrepresented in low-paying work.
Black women, for instance, are more likely to work in food service, domestic work, and home healthcare — all some of the worst paying occupations in the country. They are additionally less likely to work in high-paying tech fields, the Institute for Women's Policy Research reports.
Hispanic people, meanwhile, account for just 15% of all jobs, but make up 36% of all high school dropouts — a group that typically gets low-paying work. As a result, largely Hispanic women make up 43% of all maids and house cleaners in the country, according to a 2013 report from The Atlantic.