The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported when looking at weekly workplace earnings:

• White people make more money than those of color.  The median weekly earnings of Blacks ($792) and Hispanics ($742) working full time jobs were lower than both White ($1007) and Asian ($1261) people. 
• For men, Black men earned $810 which is 73.1% of the median for white men and hispanic men earned $769 or 69.4% of white men. 
• For women, Black women’s median earnings were $775 or 77.4% of White women ($912) and earnings for Hispanic women were $706 or 77.4% of White women.

The NY Times published a spreadsheet created by employees at Google that showed a large disparity in the pay between men and women where women were paid significantly less than their male counterparts and received smaller bonuses. 

In the Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard by Arjuna Capital, only 5 out of the 51 companies received an “A” grade while 23 out of the 51 received an “F” for their efforts to disclose and act on their racial and gender pay gaps.

According to Equal Pay Day, a women’s rights organization that focuses on equal pay:

• Native American women make $.60 to the dollar for their male, white counterparts, and the typical Native woman must work 22 months to be paid what the average white man was paid in just 12 months

Women account for 47 percent of the labor force but overall make less earnings than men (Center for American Progress)

• In the fourth quarter of 2020 median weekly earnings for women were $894, or 83.4 percent of the median of $1,072 for men (Median earnings for women in the fourth quarter of 2020 were 83.4 percent of the median for men)
• Women accounted for 42.2 percent of full-time wage and salary workers in life, physical, and social science occupations and 25.2 percent in computer and mathematical occupations. In architecture and engineering occupations, 14.0 percent of full-time wage and salary workers were women. (Women in architecture and engineering occupations in 2016)
• The gap between women’s and men’s earnings generally is larger in occupations with higher median earnings such as those in the STEM field. (Women had higher median earnings than men in relatively few occupations in 2018)
• Despite similar achievement scores among children of all genders in math and science, men are the overwhelming majority of students studying STEM fields in higher education and women also leave STEM careers at disproportionately higher rates than men, particularly among those who are working parents (Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics)

The U.S Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that:

• As of June 2012 people of color made up 36 percent of the labor force
• between 2000 and 2050 new immigrants and their children will account for 83 percent of the growth in the working-age population

In the largest research of it’s kind to date “Discrimination in America” focuses on personal experiences with discrimination across more than a dozen areas of daily life and it’s key findings are:

• Nearly half (45%) of African Americans experienced racial discrimination when trying to rent an apartment or buy a home.
• 18% of Asian Americans say they have experienced discrimination when interacting with police. Indian-Americans are much more likely than Chinese-Americans to report unfair police stops or treatment.
• Nearly 1 in 5 Latinos have avoided medical care due to concern of being discriminated against or treated poorly.
• 41% of women report being discriminated against in equal pay and promotion opportunities.

An LA Times article from 2012 discusses the unique challenges that veterans have while trying to find a job:

• The increased military and media attention given to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury has had the effect of stigmatizing veterans and that some employers fear that soldiers diagnosed with these conditions are prone to violence or instability
• A quarter of the members from the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America surveyed could not find a job to match their skill level and half said they did not believe employers were open to hiring veterans

The 2020 Census Bureau shows that over 650,000 enlisted soldiers left the U.S. Army between 2000 and 2015 and that many veterans who left service during the Great Recession struggled to find stable post-military employment:

• Younger veterans and those with lower military rank at the time of discharge tend to have lower earnings in the civilian labor market, likely reflecting lower levels of training and experience
• Former U.S. Army soldiers who were drone operators, military intelligence, cyberspace or telecommunications specialists generally have the highest earnings in the civilian labor market after leaving service
• Those leaving service between 2008 and 2011 during the recession were only half as likely to be steadily employed their first year as those who left at the start of the decade and these differences in employment rates persisted well into the recovery, with only slightly more than half of veterans who left between 2008 and 2011 steadily employed five years after exiting the Army

71.3 percent of people ages 16 to 64 reported a barrier to employment in July 2019. most reported their own disability was a barrier to employment in July 2019 (79.0 percent). Other barriers included lack of education or training (12.2 percent), lack of transportation (10.6 percent), and the need for special features at the job (9.9 percent) (Barriers to employment for people with a disability)

In July 2019, 13.8 percent of people with a disability reported that they had requested a change in their current workplace to help them do their job better. Such changes included new or modified equipment; physical changes to the workplace; policy changes to the workplace; changes in work tasks, job structure, or schedule; changes in communication or information sharing; changes to comply with religious beliefs; accommodations for family or personal obligations; training; or other changes. (People with a disability more likely to request changes)

The labor force participation rate for people with a disability ages 16 to 64 has risen every year since 2015. In 2018, 33.3 percent of people with a disability ages 16 to 64 were in the labor force. For people without a disability, the labor force participation rate for all people ages 16 to 64 was 76.9 percent in 2018 (Employment characteristics of people with a disability)

Approximately 27,382,000 Americans (11 percent) have a disability, yet only 5,722,000 (21 percent) of these individuals are in the labor force.  The unemployment rate of people with disabilities (disabled but looking for work) is 15 percent—much higher than that for people who are not disabled (8.7 percent). (The State of Diversity in Today’s Workforce)

Labor force characteristics by race and ethnicity, 2019 (Report 1088). (2020, December). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/reports/race-and-ethnicity/2019/pdf/home.pdf

Lamb, Natasha. “Racial and Gender Pay Scorecard.” Arjuna Capital, Mar. 2021, www.arjuna-capital.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Racial-Gender-Pay-Scorecard-2021-Arjuna-Capital-and-Proxy-Impact.pdf.

Lorenzo, R., Voigt, N., Tsusaka, M., Krentz, M., & Abouzahr, K. (2021, March 4). How Diverse Leadership Teams Boost Innovation. Boston Consulting Group. https://www.bcg.com/en-us/publications/2018/how-diverse-leadership-teams-boost-innovation

Median earnings for women in the fourth quarter of 2020 were 83.4 percent of the median for men. (2021, January 26). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2021/median-earnings-for-women-in-the-fourth-quarter-of-2020-were-83-4-percent-of-the-median-for-men.htm

Newport, B. F. (2021, March 23). In U.S., Estimate of LGBT Population Rises to 4.5%. Gallup. https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx

People with a disability more likely to request changes in workplace than those with no disability. (2020, May 14). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2020/people-with-a-disability-more-likely-to-request-changes-in-workplace-than-those-with-no-disability.htm

Rudin, Joel, et al. “Bigenderism at Work? Organizational Responses to Trans Men and Trans Women Employees.” Organization Management Journal, vol. 17, no. 2, 2020, pp. 63–81. Crossref, doi:10.1108/omj-02-2018-0507.

Ruiz, Neil, et al. “One-Third of Asian Americans Fear Threats, Physical Attacks and Most Say Violence against Them Is Rising.” Pew Research Center, 21 Apr. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/21/one-third-of-asian-americans-fear-threats-physical-attacks-and-most-say-violence-against-them-is-rising.

U.S. Census Bureau. “How Do Recent Veterans Fare in the Labor Market?” The United States Census Bureau, 18 Aug. 2020, www.census.gov/library/stories/2020/07/how-do-recent-veterans-fare-in-the-labor-market.html.

“U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.” U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, www.eeoc.gov.

Wakabayashi, Daisuke. “At Google, Employee-Led Effort Finds Men Are Paid More Than Women.” The New York Times, 8 Sept. 2017, www.nytimes.com/2017/09/08/technology/google-salaries-gender-disparity.html.

Women had higher median earnings than men in relatively few occupations in 2018. (2019, March 22). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2019/women-had-higher-median-earnings-than-men-in-relatively-few-occupations-in-2018.htm

Women in architecture and engineering occupations in 2016. (2017, March 10). U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2017/women-in-architecture-and-engineering-occupations-in-2016.htm

Women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). (2021, February 4). Catalyst.

Zucchino, David. “Unemployment Is a Special Challenge for Veterans.” Los Angeles Times, 15 Mar. 2019, www.latimes.com/world/la-xpm-2012-apr-25-la-na-vets-unemployed-20120426-story.html.