• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
MPW

Asian Women Are Out-Earning Other Female Workers

Kristen Bellstrom
By
Kristen Bellstrom
Kristen Bellstrom
Down Arrow Button Icon
Kristen Bellstrom
By
Kristen Bellstrom
Kristen Bellstrom
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 1, 2016, 11:58 AM ET
"Equal Pay Day" Protesters Demand Equal Pay For Women
BERLIN, GERMANY - MARCH 21: Flags reading 'Equal Pay Day' are seen during the 'Equal Pay Day' demonstration on March 21, 2014 in Berlin, Germany. The annual event recognizes the wage gap between the sexes in the country, where women's salaries still lag behind that of men, particularly in the states that were once East Germany. (Photo by Adam Berry/Getty Images)Photograph by Adam Berry — Getty Images

The gender pay gap is both simpler and more complex than you might assume. On one hand, men make more than women—case closed. But factor in race and things start to get complicated.

A new report from the Pew Research Center finds that, in 2015, women earned 83% as much as men. However, that gap fluctuates dramatically when the researchers break out their data by white, black, Asian, and Hispanic workers.

Looking at the median hourly earnings of full- and part-time workers in the United States, Pew found that Asian men are the highest earners, bringing in an average $24 per hour. Next come white men, at $21 per hour. Asian women also out-earned their white counterparts, at $18 vs. $17 per hour. Asian and white female workers make more than black ($15 per hour) and Hispanic ($14 per hour) men. Black and Hispanic women lag the rest of the groups, at $13 and $12, respectively.

Subscribe to The Broadsheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the world’s most powerful women.

As these stats suggest, white and Asian women have had the greatest success narrowing the wage gap with white men. Pew reports that white women have shrunk that gap by 22 cents from 1980 to 2015. Meanwhile, black women narrowed the divide by 9 cents during that same period—and Hispanic women by just 5 cents. Yes, 5 cents of progress in 35 years.

The researchers attribute a portion of these gaps to variations in education, though they acknowledge that there’s clearly more to it. After all, college-educated women continue to earn roughly 70% to 80% of the hourly wages of white college-educated men. Other likely factors include work experience, industry, and, of course, discrimination. Previous Pew reports have cast some light on the role of discrimination, with 27% of women, 40% of blacks, and 20% of Hispanics saying that their gender has made it harder for them to succeed.

About the Author
Kristen Bellstrom
By Kristen Bellstrom
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in MPW

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
Fortune Secondary Logo
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in MPW

MagazineVictoria's Secret
How Victoria’s Secret got its sexy back
By Emma HinchliffeFebruary 4, 2026
1 month ago
Workplace CultureSports
Exclusive: Billionaire Michele Kang launches $25 million U.S. Soccer institute that promises to transform the future of women’s sports
By Emma HinchliffeDecember 2, 2025
3 months ago
C-SuiteLeadership Next
Ulta Beauty CEO Kecia Steelman says she has the best job ever: ‘My job is to help make people feel really good about themselves’
By Fortune EditorsNovember 5, 2025
4 months ago
ConferencesMPW Summit
Executives at DoorDash, Airbnb, Sephora and ServiceNow agree: leaders need to be agile—and be a ‘swan’ on the pond
By Preston ForeOctober 21, 2025
5 months ago
Jessica Wu, co-founder and CEO of Sola, at Fortune MPW 2025
MPW
Experts say the high failure rate in AI adoption isn’t a bug, but a feature: ‘Has anybody ever started to ride a bike on the first try?’
By Dave SmithOctober 21, 2025
5 months ago
Jamie Dimon with his hand up at Fortune's Most Powerful Women Summit
SuccessProductivity
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says if you check your email in meetings, he’ll tell you to close it: ’it’s disrespectful’
By Preston ForeOctober 17, 2025
5 months ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
The Treasury may need to borrow an extra $1.6 trillion to cover the hole left by tariff ruling and pay a further $400 billion in debt interest
By Eleanor PringleMarch 6, 2026
15 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Chinese billionaire who has fathered more than 100 children hopes to have dozens of U.S.-born boys to one day take over his business
By Emma BurleighMarch 5, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Politics
Iran is turning out to be a more effective enemy than many thought, and U.S. allies are losing their patience with the war
By Jim EdwardsMarch 6, 2026
15 hours ago
placeholder alt text
Middle East
The Iran conflict will be the ’straw that breaks the camel’s back’ for the U.S. economy if it goes on much longer, Nobel laureate Paul Krugman warns
By Tristan BoveMarch 6, 2026
19 hours ago
placeholder alt text
AI
Anthropic just mapped out which jobs AI could potentially replace. A 'Great Recession for white-collar workers' is absolutely possible
By Jake AngeloMarch 6, 2026
11 hours ago
placeholder alt text
AI
OpenAI investor Vinod Khosla predicts today’s 5-year-olds won’t ever need to get jobs thanks to AI
By Sasha RogelbergMarch 4, 2026
3 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.