By Annie Kucklick, Director of Research & Impact and Sarah Brolliar, Researcher
This project was funded in part by the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies' Washington State Labor Research Grant at the University of Washington.
The Center for Women's Welfare (CWW) is partnering with the Fair Work Center (FWC) to identify high-priority occupations with workers more likely to be financially insecure. CWW and FWC will then conduct surveys and focus groups with workers in these target occupations to prioritize their perspectives and experience and include those in a final report that will be shared out to union groups and workers across Washington State. Union partnership in this research project is critical for ensuring a solution-oriented analysis that can create tangible change for low-income workers of color, such as advocating for basic labor standards for domestic workers, increasing workplace safety for agricultural and restaurant workers, and achieving rights and protections for gig workers.
Occupational segregation refers to the unequal concentration of specific demographic groups in certain jobs. Women and people of color are most often concentrated in low-wage roles, which limits wealth-building, perpetuates poverty, and increases the risk of income inadequacy for their children — reflecting the ongoing effects of racism and sexism in the U.S. These patterns are the result of intentional policies and historic bias. Care-focused jobs, such as health care, education, and child care — where women make up the majority — remain significantly undervalued and underpaid.
Gender and race-based segregation intersect, compounding discrimination for women of color. In Washington State, women of color make up 16% of the workforce but are overrepresented in low-wage jobs like cashiers, cooks, customer service representatives, agricultural workers, and personal care aides — most of which fail to meet Self-Sufficiency Standard needs, especially for families with young children. In contrast, women of color are underrepresented and often underpaid in occupations that typically provide adequate earnings, such as software development, nursing, and accounting. For example, women of color working as software developers earn $14 less per hour than white men in the same roles.
For more information on the calculation of this data or to replicate the same analysis in your state, reach out to the author, Annie Kucklick: akuckl@uw.edu.
Occupational Segregation in Washington State - explore the dashboards below or at this link to examine occupational segregation and income inadequacy in more detail.
