Report | Better Pay and Benefits · Civil Rights

Closing the Gap to the American Dream

Every day, millions of African Americans go to work but struggle to support their families. Earning poverty wages in an economy with ever-increasing costs of living, these working families frequently are forced to forgo basics—food, housing, clothing—and rely on public assistance to make ends meet. This report from the AFL-CIO featuring data from the Economic Policy Institute shows that more than 4 million African American workers would benefit from the opportunity to earn a living wage. African Americans comprise 11% of the nation’s workforce, but they are 14.8% of the workers who would be positively affected by raising the minimum wage. As this report details, many African Americans live in a state of economic insecurity and are much more likely to be paid lower wages than others. African Americans often have trouble finding a job and struggle to save for retirement. Hiking the minimum wage to $10.10 would greatly help African American workers across the country.

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