Hard Work Is Not Enough
WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBSJULY 2023

Acknowledgments
ABOUT THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S LAW CENTER
The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in oursociety—working across the issues that are central to the lives of women and girls. We use the law in all its
forms to change culture and drive solutions to the gender inequity that shapes our society and to break
down the barriers that harm all of us—especially women of color, LGBTQI+ people, and women and families
with low incomes. For more than 50 years, NWLC has been on the leading edge of every major legal andpolicy victory for women.
AUTHORS
Jasmine Tucker, NWLC’s Vice President for Research, and Julie Vogtman, NWLC’s Director of Job Quality &Senior Counsel, authored this report.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authors thank Melissa Boteach, Emily Martin, Brooke LePage, Sarah Javaid, and Hilary Woodward for theircontributions in reviewing, factchecking, and copy editing this report.
Design and Production: Andrea Sumner, National Women’s Law Center; Tom Gamertsfelder, Omada Creative

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 2

Introduction
All working people—regardless of race, class, or gender—wantjobs that allow them to support their families and live with dignity.
But far too often, employers do not provide the wages, hours, or
benefits that people need to achieve economic security and stability.
This was true before the COVID-19 pandemic began and it remains
true today—especially for women, and for women of color most ofall. Although women make up just under half of the workforce inthe United States, they represent nearly two-thirds (64.1%) of theworkforce in the 40 lowest-paying jobs (referred to generally in thisanalysis as “low-paid jobs”).1
WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 3

It was the women working in these jobs—as restaurant servers and bartenders, fast
food workers, hotel clerks, housekeeping cleaners, and staff in entertainment venues
and retail stores—who were most likely to become unemployed in 2020, as restaurants
and storefronts shuttered and travel came to a halt.2 And many others—the personalcare and home health aides caring for people managing illness in their homes, thecashiers staffing grocery stores, and the child care workers caring for the childrenof health care workers and first responders—found their work to be newly deemed
essential but still undervalued, with decent pay and basic benefits out of reach.
Fortunately, policymakers acted quickly in 2020 and early 2021 to stem job losses
and prevent economic devastation. The American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), signed
by President Biden in March 2021, and the relief legislation that preceded it provided
critical assistance that helped families make ends meet, dramatically reduced childpoverty, stabilized the child care sector, and helped create the conditions for robust job
growth. By the end of 2021, overall unemployment was close to pre-pandemic levels(where it has since remained).3 And low-paid workers—especially women and people ofcolor—experienced real wage gains. Between 2019 and 2022, hourly wage growth wasstrongest at the bottom of the wage distribution, with typical wages increasing by 9%
for workers in the lowest-paying jobs (compared to about 2%, for example, for workers
in the middle of the wage distribution).4

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 4

But while the federal pandemic relief measures provided critical support for struggling
families and set the stage for a strong jobs recovery, they were temporary. Most
have come to an end and others are sunsetting soon. Lawmakers did not make thepermanent structural changes needed to address longstanding inequities or ensure
widespread job quality. And in the face of the loss of these supports, rising costs,
savings depleted by periods of unemployment, and ongoing caregiving challenges,
modest wage gains were not sufficient for many people working in low-paying jobs toachieve economic security.
The analysis that follows examines who women in low-paid jobs are and how they were
faring in 2021, the most recent year for which national data on poverty and income
are available—with a focus on women of color and women supporting children,
who face the highest risk of economic hardship. It confirms that in 2021, millions of
women were still struggling to pay their bills and support their families, despite theireducation, experience, and hard work in essential jobs. And it makes clear what a low
unemployment rate often obscures: in the absence of structural reforms to enable all
working people to thrive, having a job is no guarantee of having enough income tomake ends meet.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 5

Who are thewomen working
in low-paid jobs?
´ Across the United States, nearly 21 million
people work in the 40 lowest paying jobs—
and women make up the great majority ofthis workforce: 64.1%.5 The work they do
is vitally important to our economy and oursociety, but employers typically pay people
who hold these jobs less than $15 per hour.
See Appendix I for median wages, size of theworkforce, and share of the workforce who are
women in each of the 40 lowest-paying jobs.
´ Women working in low-paid jobs are also
typically paid less than men working in thesame occupations. Among people working
full time, year-round in low-paid jobs, womenare paid just 83 cents for every dollar paid totheir male counterparts.6

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 6

´ While women of every race are overrepresented in low-paid jobs comparedto their share of the overall workforce, this disproportionate representation
is especially stark for women of color and immigrant women.
´ For example, the shares of Latinas and Native women in the low-paid
workforce are roughly double their respective shares in the workforce overall, and Black women’s share of the low-paid workforce isnearly 1.5 times larger than their share of the overall workforce.
´ Women born outside of the United States are also overrepresented
in the low-paid workforce, making up 14.7% of the low-paid workforce
but 8.0% of the overall workforce. See Figure 1.
´ In contrast, men of every race—especially white, non-Hispanic
men—are underrepresented in the low-paid workforce relative totheir shares of the workforce overall. While the shares of Black men,
AANHPI men, Native men, and Latinos in the low-paid workforce are
only slightly lower than their shares of the overall workforce, whitemen’s share of the overall workforce is 1.8 times larger than their shareof the low-paid workforce. Men born outside the United States are a
bit more likely to work in low-paid jobs; they represent 21.7% of the
low-paid workforce and 19.3% of the workforce overall. See Figure 2.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 7

DISABLED WOMEN FACE SUBSTANTIAL BARRIERS TO
FAIR EARNINGS AND EMPLOYMENT.
An economy in which overall unemployment is low often masks not only the qualityof the jobs people hold but also the disparities in employment rates—as well aslabor force participation rates—among different groups. This disparity is stark for theroughly one in four people in the United States living with a disability,8 who faced
an unemployment rate that was nearly twice that of the workforce overall and who
participated in the labor force at less than half the rate of the total population in 2021.9
While the recent increase in the availability of remote work has made it easier for somedisabled people to work and begun to narrow some of the employment gaps thatexisted prior to the pandemic,10 in 2021, just 18.9% of women with a disability werein the labor force—compared to 61.3% of women without a disability, 73.2% of men
without a disability, and 24.0% of men with a disability.11
The factors impacting employment opportunities for disabled individuals are varied
and complex,12 but research makes clear that stigma and discrimination play a role: one
study, for example, found that employers were less likely to respond to applications
from job candidates who disclosed disabilities, even when the candidates had
qualifications equal to those without disabilities.13 Despite important protections likethe Americans with Disabilities Act,14 federal and state policies too often still reflect andreinforce harmful assumptions about people with disabilities. In one striking example,
the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and the law in most states allows employers to pay
below minimum wage to people with disabilities working in segregated environments
known as “sheltered workshops.”15 Policymakers have also failed to ensure that housing
and transportation are affordable and accessible for people with disabilities, or toprovide the additional services and supports necessary for disabled people and theirfamilies to thrive.16 As a result of these structural barriers to employment and economic
security, disabled people—particularly women and people of color—typically havelower incomes and face a higher risk of poverty and economic hardship than people
without disabilities.17

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 8

Figure 1.

Women in the Overall and Low-Paid Workforces byRace/Ethnicity and Nativity, 2021
35%

31.9%
28.0%

30%
25%
20%

15.9%

15%

8.9%

10%
5%

3.1% 4.2%

6.0%

14.7%

8.0%

8.0%
0.4% 0.8%

0%AANHPI
women

Black women

Share of overall workforce

LatinasNativewomen

White, nonHispanic women

Women born
outside U.S.

Share of low-paid workforce

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and place of birth.

Figure 2.

Men in the Overall and Low-Paid Workforces by Race/
Ethnicity and Nativity, 2021
35%

31.9%

30%
25%

17.7%

20%

19.3%

21.7%

15%

10.1%

10%
5%
0%

3.3%

5.2%
2.5%

9.0%

4.9%
0.5% 0.4%

AANHPI men

Black men

Share of overall workforce

Latinos

Nativemen

White, nonHispanic men

Men bornoutside U.S.

Share of low-paid workforce

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and place of birth.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 9´ Over one in 12 women in the low-paid
workforce (8.8%) have a disability,
compared to 6.7% of women in theworkforce overall.7 While the shareof women with disabilities in low-

Figure 3.

Women in the Low-Paid
Workforce by Age, 2021

paid jobs is roughly similar to theirrepresentation in the overall workforce,
many women with disabilities are

19.5%
31.2%

shut out of the workforce altogether(see “Disabled women face substantial
barriers to fair earnings and employment,”

23.9%

page 8).
25.4%´ The overwhelming majority of low-paidworking women are adults, and manyare prime working age. Over 85% of

16–24

40–55

women in the low-paid workforce

25–39

Older than 55

are age 20 or older. Millennials (ages
25 to 39) make up more than one infour women in the low-paid workforce(25.4%). Gen Xers (ages 40–55) arealmost one in four women in the lowpaid workforce (23.9%), and nearly
one in three women in the low-paid
workforce (31.2%) are Gen Zers (ages
16–24).18 See Figure 3.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 10

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American
Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMSUSA. Respondents self-identify their gender, age,and occupation.

´ More than eight in 10 women in the 40 lowest-paying jobs (80.4%) have a highschool diploma or a higher education level, and close to half have at least somecollege education. Over one-quarter of women in low-paid jobs (25.6%) havesome college education yet no degree, 7.8% have an associate’s degree, and morethan one in 10 (11.9%) holds a bachelor’s degree or higher. See Figure 4.
Figure 4.

Women in the Low-Paid Workforce by Education Level, 2021

11.9%
7.8%

19.6%

25.6%
35.1%

No high school
diplomaHigh school diploma
or equivalent

Associate’s degree

Bachelor’s degree
or moreSome college, no degree

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents selfidentify their gender, occupation, and the highest level of education they have completed.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 11

´ Nearly half of women in the low-paid workforce (46.4%) work full time, and close to
two in five (37.3%) work full time, year-round.19¡ More than half of women in low-paid jobs (53.6%), however, work part time,20
compared to 26.6% of women in the workforce overall.
¡ Many part-time workers would prefer to work more hours but cannot do so
because their employer only rarely offers full-time positions—a scenariothat is common in many low-paid service sector jobs—or because the“choice” of part-time work is forced by, for example, the unaffordability or
unavailability of child care.21 Research from the Center for Law & Social Policy
shows that up to 40% of all people working part time would prefer more hours,
including half of people working part time in service occupations.22

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 12

Women in low-paidjobs struggle to makeends meet, even if
they are able to work
full-time hours.
For millions of women in low-paid jobs and their families, education and hard work aresimply not enough to boost their incomes above the poverty line. And millions more
live near poverty (defined here as household income below twice the federal povertyline), where a medical emergency, a car breakdown, or a few cut shifts can mean thatfamilies won’t have enough to pay for basics, like food, rent, utilities, or child care.
In fact, most families have to earn much more than twice the federal poverty line to
make sure they can make ends meet. For example, while the official poverty line for aparent with two children in 2021 was $21,831,23 the Economic Policy Institute estimatesthat a family of that size living in Columbus, Ohio, would need more than three times
a poverty-level income ($70,190) to maintain a basic but adequate standard of living—
and far more is necessary in higher cost regions.24

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 13´ Women in low-paid jobs typically are major contributors to their household’s
income. But even when they work full time, women in low-paid jobs and theirfamilies face a high risk of falling below or near the poverty line—and those odds
are greatest for women of color.
¡ More than one in three women working full time in low-paid jobs in 2021
(34.8%) had household incomes below twice the poverty line, including 10.4%
who lived in poverty. See Figure 5.
¡ Among women working full time in low-paid jobs, 38.8% of all women of color
lived in or near poverty in 2021, compared to 30.0% of white, non-Hispanic
women. Nearly four in 10 Latinas (38.9%), and more than four in 10 Native
women (42.3%) and Black women (45.1%), working full time in low-paid jobs had
household incomes below twice the poverty line. See Figure 6.
Figure 5.

Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Womenin Low-Paid Jobs and Workers Overall, 2021
45%

40.4%

40%

34.8%

35%
30%
25%

18.8%

20%
15%

10.4%

10%
5%
0%

Women working fulltime in low-paid jobs
Under 100% federal
poverty level

Women working parttime in low-paid jobs
Under 100% federal
poverty level

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA.
Respondents self-identify their gender, occupation, and the usual number of hours they worked weekly.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 14´ Women in low-paid jobs who work part time because they can’t find full-timework or need to manage other obligations face an even higher risk of poverty
and economic insecurity.
¡ About two in five women working part-time in low-paid jobs (40.4%) lived in ornear poverty in 2021. See Figure 5.
¡ Nearly half (47.2%) of women of color working part-time in low-paid jobs had
household incomes below twice the federal poverty line in 2021—much higher
than the rate faced by white, non-Hispanic women in these jobs (34.4%).
Z Among Black and Native women working part time in low-paid jobs,
over half had household incomes below twice the poverty line. Over one
in four Black women working part time in low-paid jobs (28.0%) lived inpoverty, along with nearly one in four Native women (24.6%).
Z Among Latinas working part time in these jobs, nearly half (48.1%) had
incomes below twice the poverty line, including more than one in five who
lived in poverty. See Figure 7.

FOR MANY PEOPLE WORKING IN LOW-PAID JOBS,INADEQUATE WAGES ARE JUST ONE OF THE
CHALLENGING CONDITIONS THEY FACE.
These jobs also frequently lack health insurance or other benefits—like paid sick days andpaid family and medical leave—and feature work schedules with unstable, inadequate
hours that produce unstable, inadequate income; this is particularly true for people whowork part-time hours.25
In states that have not expanded Medicaid, people working in low-paid jobs may haveincomes that are above Medicaid eligibility limits but below the eligibility threshold fortax credits to help pay for health insurance through the state Marketplace, leaving themwithout a source of affordable coverage. And when employers pay low wages and denybenefits to the people who need them most, workers have to live paycheck to paycheck,with little ability to build wealth and retire with dignity.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 15

Figure 6.

Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Women Working
Full Time in Low-Paid Jobs, by Race/Ethnicity, 2021
60%
50%

45.1%
38.9%

40%

30.0%

30%

25.6%

20%
10%

42.3%

14.3%

12.0%

11.3%

8.7%

6.8%

0%

AANHPI
women

Black women

LatinasUnder 100% federal
poverty level

Nativewomen

White, nonHispanic women

Under 200% federal
poverty level

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and the usual number of hours they worked weekly.

Figure 7.

Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Women Working
Part Time in Low-Paid Jobs, by Race/Ethnicity, 2021
60%

54.0%

40%

36.1%

34.4%

28.0%

30%
20%

51.9%

48.1%

50%

20.7%

24.6%
16.3%

14.9%

10%
0%

AANHPI
women

Black women

LatinasUnder 100% federal
poverty level

Nativewomen

White, nonHispanic women

Under 200% federal
poverty level

Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and the usual number of hours they worked weekly.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 16

Low-paid jobs
make it especiallyhard for women
who are caring forchildren to support
themselves andtheir families.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 17

´ Many women in the low-paid workforce are working to support themselves andtheir families, often as primary earners for their households. More than one infour women in the low-paid workforce (25.5%) have at least one child under 18
at home, including 8.9% who have at least one child under age 5. And mothers
in low-paid jobs—especially Black mothers—are frequently the sole or primary
breadwinners for their families.26´ Among parents in low-paid jobs with children under age 18 who live with them,nearly three in four (72.8%) are mothers. While all working mothers face a higher
risk of economic insecurity than working fathers, mothers in low-paid jobs areespecially likely to struggle to make ends meet. Over half of mothers in low-paidjobs (52.4%) had household incomes below twice the poverty line in 2021,
compared to 43.0% of fathers in the low-paid workforce, 23.9% of mothers in theworkforce overall, and 19.1% of fathers in the workforce overall.
´ Mothers who are women of color are even more likely to be poor, or near poor.
Overall, nearly six in 10 mothers of color in the low-paid workforce (58.1%) had
household incomes near or below the poverty line in 2021.
¡ Even when working full time, more than six in 10 Black mothers working in
low-paid jobs (62.1%) had household incomes below twice the poverty line
in 2021; nearly one in four (23.7%) experienced poverty.
¡ More than half of Latina mothers (52.2%) and Native mothers (53.9%) working
full time in low-paid jobs lived in or near poverty in 2021, as did roughly four in
10 white mothers (39.9%) and AANHPI mothers (36.2%) who worked full time inthese jobs. See Figure 8.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 18

Figure 8.

Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Mothers Working
Full Time in Low-Paid Jobs, by Race/Ethnicity, 2021
80%
70%

62.1%

60%

53.9%

50%
40%

52.2%

36.2%

39.9%

30%

23.7%
20%
10%
0%

17.4%
9.4%

AANHPI
mothers

13.2%

Black women

Under 100% federal
poverty level

LatinasNativewomen

White, nonHispanic women

Under 200% federal
poverty level*Sample size for Native mothers working full time in low-paid jobs is too small to determine theshare in households under 100% of the federal poverty level.
Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and the usual number of hours they worked weekly. Mothers are women with children under 18 in their home.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 19

´ In the low-paid workforce, nearly half of mothers (46.8%) work part time, compared
to 21.5% of fathers; in the overall workforce, close to one-quarter of mothers workpart time, compared to just 6.5% of fathers. Mothers—especially mothers who are
women of color—who work part time in low-paid jobs face an extraordinarily highrisk of poverty and economic insecurity.
See Figure 9.
¡ Overall, nearly two in three women of color who are mothers working parttime in low-paid jobs (64.9%) had household incomes below twice thepoverty line in 2021, compared to just under half (48.6%) of white, nonHispanic mothers working part time in these jobs.
¡ Among Black mothers working part time in low-paid jobs, close to eight in
10 (79.1%) lived in households with incomes below twice the poverty line in
2021, and about half (50.7%) experienced poverty.
¡ Just under two-thirds of Latina mothers (64.7%) and Native mothers (64.6%)
working part time in low-paid jobs lived near or in poverty in 2021.
¡ AANHPI mothers working part time in low-paid jobs experienced economic
insecurity at lower rates than their Black, Latina, and Native counterparts—but
more than four in 10 (44.0 %) still had household incomes below twice thepoverty line (slightly below the rate for white, non-Hispanic women).

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 20

Figure 9.

Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Mothers Working
Part Time in Low-Paid Jobs, by Race/Ethnicity, 2021
79.1%

80%
70%

64.7%

64.6%

60%
50%

50.7%

48.6%

44.0%

40%

32.6%

30%
20%

25.0%
18.3%

10%
0%

AANHPI
mothers

Black women

Under 100% federal
poverty level

LatinasNativewomen

White, nonHispanic women

Under 200% federal
poverty level*Sample size for Native mothers working full time in low-paid jobs is too small to determine theshare in households under 100% of the federal poverty level.
Source: NWLC calculations with 2021 American Community Survey one-year sample using IPUMS-USA. Respondents self-identify their race,
ethnicity, gender, occupation, and the usual number of hours they worked weekly. Mothers are women with children under 18 in their home.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 21

POLICY MATTERS:
Pandemic investments
reduced hardship for
women in low-paid jobs—
but they are expiring.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 22

In 2021, many people working in low-paid jobs—especiallywomen of color—were struggling to put food on the tableand pay the rent. But there were also reasons for optimism.
Working people in the United States were emerging fromthe most brutal phase of the COVID-19 pandemic withmore demand for their labor, especially in historically lowpaid service sector jobs, leading to wage gains.27 Minimum
wages went up in 26 states.28 And pandemic relief legislation
temporarily provided workplace benefits that many had lacked,
including paid sick days and paid leave to care for loved ones
for pandemic-related reasons, as well as a far more robust
federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit(EITC), more generous Supplemental Nutrition Assistance
Program (SNAP) benefits and rental assistance, investments
to make child care more affordable and accessible, expanded
eligibility for unemployment insurance, student loan relief, anddirect payments to individuals.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 23

Without these supports, poverty surely would have been higher and our economic
recovery slower. Instead, poverty among children fell to a record low in 2021, andpoverty rates for Black women, Latinas, and disabled women under the supplemental
poverty measure—which takes into account the value of federal benefits like the CTC,
EITC, and SNAP—were markedly lower in 2021 than poverty rates for these groups
under the official poverty measure, which does not account for these benefits.29 Even
under the official measure, poverty was lower in states that put policies in place tohelp families make ends meet. Women in low-paid jobs were less likely to experience
poverty, for example, in states with higher minimum wages, including higher wages fortipped workers.30 In addition, the funds made available to states through the American
Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) to stabilize the child care sector during the pandemic helped
more than 220,000 child care providers across the country keep their doors open,
benefiting many as 9.6 million children and helping their parents work.31
Today, however, most pandemic-era relief measures have ended. Two that remain—
the ARPA child care stabilization grants and increased funding for the Child Care andDevelopment Block Grant—are set to expire in September 2023 and September 2024,
respectively, risking widespread child care program closures and potentially cutting
off services for millions of children and their families.32 Poverty among children has
spiked since the CTC expansion expired in January 2022.33 The federal minimum
wage remains a shockingly low $7.25 per hour while the cost of living continues torise. And access to the basic supports that workers and caregivers need remains
largely determined by income, employer, and geography, with no federal guaranteeof paid family and medical leave, paid sick days, or affordable child care. Without
these supports—and with calls for further austerity mounting in the wake of federal
budget cuts extracted in recent debt ceiling legislation—women in low-paid jobs, andthe families who depend on them, will continue to face severe hardship.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | 24

Conclusion
Many of the low-paid jobs featured in this analysis—such as home health aides andpersonal care aides, restaurant servers, bartenders, fast food workers, cooks, andmaids and housekeeping cleaners—are also among the occupations with the most
growth anticipated over the next decade.34
To consistently attract and retain people to fill these critically needed jobs, they cannot
continue to be jobs that leave families struggling to get by. And they don’t have to be.
Federal and state policymakers can cement and build upon the gains that low-paid
workers have made since 2020 by setting higher standards for employers, so that every
job—whether full-time or part-time—pays fair wages and provides working people with
the input and stability in their work hours, as well as the paid time off, that they need tobalance their jobs with the rest of their lives.
Policymakers can also invest in public goods that benefit all of us—like education,
child care, health care, infrastructure, and income support programs—to ensure thateveryone has access to high-quality services and that families can put food on thetable, get the medical care they need, and keep a roof over their heads when they arefacing tough economic times. And they can raise tax revenue from the wealthy andcorporations to fund these needed investments.
The pandemic has shown us that government policies can meaningfully boost incomes,
expand employment opportunities, and reduce pervasive race and gender disparities.
When we commit to making the permanent changes needed to ensure that all jobs aregood jobs, we will build an economy that works for all of us—not just the wealthy few.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | 25

APPENDIX I: The 40 Lowest-Paying Jobs
Low-paid occupation1

Medianhourlywage,
20212

Number ofworkers,20213

Share of workers who
are women, 20213

1

Entertainment Attendants and RelatedWorkers, All Other$11.62

192,000

46%

2

Cooks, Fast Food*$11.63

1,905,000

40%

3

Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers$11.7529,000-

4

Shampooers*$11.7526,000-5

Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge,
and Coffee Shop

$11.83282,000

84%

6

Fast Food and Counter Workers$12.07775,000

66%$12.501,631,000

68%

7Waiters and Waitresses

8

Bartenders$12.67362,000

57%

9

Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants andBartender Helpers$13.06

243,000

47%

10

Cashiers$13.11

2,601,000

73%

11Childcare Workers$13.22

974,000

95%

12

Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks$13.50119,000

70%

13

Dishwashers$13.52

243,000

24%

14

Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers$13.63116,000

67%

15

Animal Caretakers$13.75

272,000

82%

16

Pressers, Textile, Garment, and RelatedMaterials$13.7917,000-17

Food Servers, Nonrestaurant$13.81

172,000

74%

18

Food Preparation Workers$13.84872,000

58%

19

Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners$13.84

1,357,000

89%

20

Telemarketers$13.9033,000-21

School Bus Monitors$13.9928,000-22

Food Preparation and Serving RelatedWorkers, All Other$14.00

2,000

-

23

Baggage Porters and Bellhops*$14.0084,00028%

24

Retail Salespersons$14.002,750,000

49%

25

Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except
Emergency Medical Technicians$14.007,000-

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 1

Low-paid occupation

Medianhourlywage,
20212

Number ofworkers,20213

Share of workers who
are women, 20213

26

Manicurists and Pedicurists$14.05

247,000

83%

27

Parking Attendants$14.0671,00013%28

Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment$14.08301,000

17%

29

Taxi Drivers$14.09337,000

12%

30

Automotive and Watercraft Service
Attendants*$14.1089,00011%

31

Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street
Vendors, and Related Workers$14.13104,000

73%-

Home Health and Personal Care Aides**$14.15

-

-

1

32

Home health aides

570,000

87%

33

Personal care aides

1,411,00080%34Library Assistants, Clerical$14.1688,00084%35Dietetic Technicians*$14.1966,00083%

36

Sales and Related Workers, All Other$14.22410,000

54%

37

Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other$14.24

101,000

72%

38

Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products$14.2553,000

71%

39

Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists$14.26

713,000

92%

40

Recreation Workers$14.27139,000

69%

1. Low-paid occupations can be defined in a variety of ways. For this analysis, NWLC defines low-paid jobs as the 40 occupations with the lowest
hourly median wages, according to U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2021 National Occupational Employment & Wage
Estimates (NOWES), https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm. To conduct a thorough demographic analysis of the workforce in these jobs,
NWLC uses data from U.S. Census Bureau 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) data using IPUMS-USA along with 2021 Annual Averages from
Table 11 of the BLS Current Population Survey (CPS). In the NOWES table, several occupations that are considered low-paid could not be matched
to a corresponding 2021 ACS occupation code and did not have a matching occupation name in BLS CPS Table 11. Thus, to reach 40 occupations
for analysis, several additional occupations from the NOWES table were substituted for those that did not have a matching ACS occupation codeand matching occupation name in BLS CPS Table 11. Those occupations were excluded from this analysis and include: amusement and recreation
attendants; gambling dealers; lifeguards, ski patrol, and other recreation protective services workers; gambling and sports book writers; cooks, shortorder; shoe machine operators and tenders; locker room, coatroom, and dressing room attendants; gambling change persons and booth cashiers;
gambling service workers, all other; physical therapist aides; funeral attendants; drivers/sales workers; motion picture projectionists; gambling cage
workers; tire repairers and changers; farmworkers and laborers, crop, nursery, and greenhouse; farmworkers, farm, ranch, and aquaculture animals.
2. U.S. Department of Labor, BLS, May 2021 NOWES, https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.
3. Data on the number of workers and share of workers who are women are from U.S. Department of Labor, BLS, CPS, Household Data, 2021 Annual
Averages, Table 11, https://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm. Dashes indicate data is unavailable.
* In a few instances, the two BLS sources required for this table—i.e., the NOWES and CPS Table 11—define occupations in slightly different ways.
Specifically, fast food cooks in the NOWES are part of “cooks” in CPS Table 11; shampooers in the NOWES are included in “other personal appearance
workers” in CPS Table 11; baggage porters and bellhops in the NOWES are identified as “baggage porters, bellhops, and concierges” in CPS Table 11;
automotive and watercraft service attendants in the NOWES are “transportation service attendants” in CPS Table 11; and dietetic technicians in the
NOWES are “dietetic technicians and ophthalmic medical technicians” in CPS Table 11. In each of these cases, the figures for the number of workers
and share of workers who are women reflect the occupation as defined by CPS Table 11.
** In the NOWES table, BLS lists home health and personal care aides as a singular occupation, but in CPS Table 11 (and in the 2021 ACS), these two
occupations are listed separately and thus have separate numbers of workers and shares of workers who are women listed here.
HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 2

APPENDIX II: Women in Low-Paid Jobs, State by StateTABLE 1: Women’s Share of the Low-Paid Workforce, 2021
Low-Paid Workforce

Overall Workforce

Total Numberof Workers

Numberof Women
Workers

Women’s
Share

Total Numberof Workers

Numberof Women
Workers

Women’s
Share

United States

20,838,984

13,363,663

64.1%

157,815,522

74,462,136

47.2%

Alabama

286,789

197,46468.9%

2,218,543

1,069,252

48.2%

Alaska42,16926,854

63.7%

352,179

158,266

44.9%

Arizona

461,432

287,19362.2%

3,343,145

1,542,905

46.2%

Arkansas

166,433

110,507

66.4%

1,332,081

635,128

47.7%

California

2,610,994

1,631,386

62.5%

18,337,222

8,369,871

45.6%

Colorado

357,943

220,803

61.7%

3,042,125

1,397,931

46.0%

Connecticut

223,955

139,57062.3%

1,817,535

878,477

48.3%

Delaware61,72238,47462.3%

474,029

235,042

49.6%

District ofColumbia

29,884

18,682

62.5%

358,738

185,247

51.6%

Florida1,468,681

899,158

61.2%

10,074,035

4,767,358

47.3%

Georgia

631,923

425,456

67.3%

5,099,930

2,462,335

48.3%

Hawaii

104,461

60,885

58.3%

684,898

321,338

46.9%

Idaho

123,21980,455

65.3%

909,538

415,369

45.7%

Illinois776,347

498,896

64.3%

6,102,522

2,912,062

47.7%

Indiana

393,961

259,05565.8%

3,252,569

1,529,257

47.0%

Iowa

202,204

138,90968.7%

1,627,370

765,296

47.0%

Kansas185,162

117,979

63.7%

1,449,556

677,045

46.7%

Kentucky

242,112167,553

69.2%

2,013,830

959,064

47.6%

Louisiana

278,514

194,875

70.0%

1,972,056

967,336

49.1%

Maine

80,99254,80067.7%

676,188329,71748.8%

Maryland343,710224,093

65.2%

3,117,114

1,527,855

49.0%

Massachusetts

435,776

277,45063.7%

3,610,117

1,766,448

48.9%

Michigan604,228

394,52165.3%

4,611,939

2,173,199

47.1%

Minnesota

377,318

239,479

63.5%

2,971,030

1,429,202

48.1%

Mississippi

155,492

107,59269.2%

1,240,252

612,279

49.4%

Missouri391,757

250,14963.9%

2,979,410

1,429,486

48.0%

Montana

70,57642,45360.2%

531,283

248,776

46.8%

Nebraska

126,861

83,993

66.2%

1,028,745

486,484

47.3%

Nevada252,788

146,29457.9%

1,438,993

665,438

46.2%

New
Hampshire

94,747

57,691

60.9%

744,428

349,860

47.0%

New Jersey

521,803

326,13362.5%

4,520,798

2,138,626

47.3%

New Mexico

130,108

87,821

67.5%

889,844421,371

47.4%

New York

1,353,778

858,55163.4%

9,267,375

4,537,451

49.0%North Carolina

626,152

402,500

64.3%

5,004,760

2,383,078

47.6%

North Dakota

54,09335,317

65.3%

410,644

184,81945.0%

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 3

Low-Paid Workforce

Overall Workforce

Total Numberof Workers

Numberof Women
Workers

Women’s
Share

Total Numberof Workers

Numberof Women
Workers

Women’s
Share

Ohio

704,262

463,31565.8%

5,627,114

2,695,844

47.9%

Oklahoma

244,692

162,04466.2%

1,803,879

853,402

47.3%

Oregon288,213

179,45262.3%

2,008,236

947,750

47.2%

Pennsylvania

822,031526,90264.1%

6,213,898

2,980,950

48.0%

Rhode Island

72,68545,28662.3%

551,416

270,08549.0%South Carolina

319,205

209,02565.5%

2,365,584

1,134,519

48.0%South Dakota

65,272

44,031

67.5%

454,992

211,696

46.5%

Tennessee

417,801

272,51165.2%

3,263,460

1,550,345

47.5%

Texas

1,946,098

1,254,224

64.4%

13,910,930

6,325,311

45.5%

Utah

193,304

118,42161.3%

1,663,199

731,170

44.0%

Vermont

35,55821,704

61.0%

326,305

159,28648.8%

Virginia

496,623

325,52065.5%

4,342,570

2,043,376

47.1%

Washington

458,487

293,61164.0%

3,760,064

1,717,675

45.7%

West Virginia

109,063

73,463

67.4%

727,350

344,979

47.4%

Wisconsin

358,508

246,67668.8%

3,003,934

1,434,277

47.7%

Wyoming

39,09824,48762.6%

287,770

128,803

44.8%

Source: National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) calculations are based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey 1-year
estimates using IPUMS. Low-paid occupations can be defined in a variety of ways. For this analysis, NWLC defines low-paid jobs as the 40
occupations with the lowest hourly median wages, according to U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2021 National
Occupational Employment & Wage Estimates (NOWES), https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 4

TABLE 2: Poverty and Near-Poverty Rates Among Women in
Low-Paid Jobs and Workers Overall, 2021
Low-Paid Workforce

Overall Workforce

Share of Women in
Low-Paid Workforce
Living Under 100%of the Federal
Poverty Line

Share of
Women in LowPaid Workforce
Living Under
200% of theFederal PovertyLine

Share of Overall
Workforce Living
Under 100% of theFederal PovertyLine

Share of Overall Workforce
Living Under 200% of theFederal Poverty Line

United States

14.9%

37.8%

5.5%

17.1%

Alabama

17.2%

43.9%

6.6%

21.6%

Alaska

-

-

4.6%

13.5%

Arizona

15.1%

38.3%

5.7%

18.8%

Arkansas

18.2%

51.0%

6.8%

23.6%

California

12.1%

33.9%

5.0%

16.3%

Colorado

15.3%

31.6%

4.9%

14.3%

Connecticut

10.6%

28.8%

4.2%

12.7%

Delaware

-

41.9%

5.3%

15.7%

-

4.3%

9.5%

District ofColumbia
Florida

14.1%

39.9%

5.9%

20.1%

Georgia

17.1%

40.5%

6.2%

18.9%

Hawaii

-

27.7%

4.5%

12.7%

Idaho

16.9%

40.7%

6.4%

21.1%

Illinois

14.8%

37.5%

5.2%

15.8%

Indiana

15.3%

38.7%

5.2%

17.2%

Iowa

16.5%

37.1%

5.9%

16.6%

Kansas

18.0%

45.3%

6.1%

19.8%

Kentucky

18.3%

45.0%

6.7%

20.5%

Louisiana

22.5%

50.4%

8.6%

22.9%

31.7%

3.9%

13.8%

Maine
Maryland

12.0%

32.2%

4.0%

11.9%

Massachusetts

11.5%

29.3%

4.2%

11.1%

Michigan

15.6%

38.0%

5.6%

17.3%

Minnesota

13.7%

33.9%

4.4%

14.0%

Mississippi

20.2%

47.9%

7.7%

23.9%

Missouri

18.2%

42.1%

6.0%

18.4%

Montana

-

43.0%

6.2%

20.1%

Nebraska

13.7%

36.5%

5.1%

16.9%

Nevada

13.4%

36.5%

5.5%

19.1%

New Hampshire -

20.0%

2.6%

8.8%

New Jersey

29.9%

4.0%

12.1%

12.5%

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 5

Low-Paid Workforce

Overall Workforce

Share of Women in
Low-Paid Workforce
Living Under 100%of the Federal
Poverty Line

Share of
Women in LowPaid Workforce
Living Under
200% of theFederal PovertyLine

Share of Overall
Workforce Living
Under 100% of theFederal PovertyLine

Share of Overall Workforce
Living Under 200% of theFederal Poverty Line

New Mexico

21.4%

56.7%

9.0%

26.1%

New York

15.0%

36.7%

5.2%

15.0%

North Carolina

17.4%

42.3%

6.0%

19.0%

North Dakota

-

34.1%

5.5%

16.9%

Ohio

15.0%

36.8%

5.5%

16.9%

Oklahoma

20.9%

43.7%

7.5%

23.1%

Oregon

15.9%

42.2%

6.0%

18.2%

Pennsylvania

12.7%

31.1%

4.6%

14.3%

Rhode Island

-

27.5%

4.4%

13.0%

South Carolina

16.4%

41.0%

6.5%

20.2%

South Dakota

-

39.0%

6.0%

17.1%

Tennessee

15.6%

42.2%

5.9%

19.8%

Texas

16.8%

44.2%

6.5%

20.8%

Utah

11.4%

26.4%

4.9%

16.5%

Vermont

-

-

4.0%

13.7%

Virginia

16.2%

37.1%

4.6%

14.1%

Washington

10.3%

30.4%

4.2%

12.9%

West Virginia

23.9%

45.6%

7.2%

21.6%

Wisconsin

13.1%

32.5%

5.2%

14.9%

Wyoming

-

36.0%

6.5%

19.2%

Dashes indicate data is unavailable due to insufficient sample sizes. Source: National Women’s Law Center (NWLC) calculations are based on
U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey 1-year estimates using IPUMS. Low-paid occupations can be defined in a variety ofways. For this analysis, NWLC defines low-paid jobs as the 40 occupations with the lowest hourly median wages, according to U.S. Departmentof Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2021 National Occupational Employment & Wage Estimates (NOWES), https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.htm.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH - APPENDIX | 6

ENDNOTES
1.

Low-paid occupations can be defined in a variety of ways. For this analysis, the National Women’s
Law Center (NWLC) defines low-paid jobs as the 40 occupations with the lowest hourly medianwages, according to U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), May 2021 National
Occupational Employment & Wage Estimates (NOWES), https://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_nat.
htm, because these jobs particularly illuminate women’s overrepresentation at the low end of the pay
spectrum. See Appendix 1 for detailed information regarding the 40 lowest-paying jobs.

2.

See, e.g., Claire Ewing-Nelson, “After a Full Month of Business Closures, Women Were Hardest Hit
by April’s Job Losses,” NWLC, May 2020, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Jobs-DayApril-Factsheet.pdf; “A Year of Strength & Loss,” NWLC, March 2021, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/
uploads/2021/03/Final_NWLC_Press_CovidStats.pdf.

3.

In February 2020, the overall unemployment rate in the United States was 3.5%; in December 2021,
it was 3.9%, and in May 2023, it was 3.7%. BLS, “(Seas) Unemployment Rate, 2013-2023,” Labor
Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey, accessed June 20, 2023, https://data.bls.gov/
timeseries/LNS14000000.

4.

Elise Gould & Katherine deCourcy, “Low-Wage Workers Have Seen Historically Fast Real Wage Growthin the Pandemic Business Cycle,” Economic Policy Institute (EPI), March 2023, https://files.epi.org/
uploads/263265.pdf. In this EPI resource, the authors divide the wage distribution into five groups
to examine wage trends at different wage levels; “workers in the lowest-paying jobs” refers to wage
growth at the 10th percentile, while “workers in the middle of the wage distribution” refers to theaverage of the 40th–60th percentiles. See id. at 2-3.

5.

NWLC calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) oneyear sample, accessed through Steven Ruggles, Sarah Flood, Ronald Goeken, Josiah Grover, Erin
Meyer, Jose Pacas and Matthew Sobek, Integrated Public Use Microdata Series USA (IPUMS USA):
Version 12.0 (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, 2022), https://doi.org/10.18128/D010.V12.0. Unlessotherwise noted, all data points in this analysis regarding women’s representation in the low-paid
workforce and in the workforce overall, as well as rates of poverty/near poverty, are calculated fromthe 2021 ACS using IPUMS USA, based on the definition of low-paid jobs in note 1, supra.

6.

NWLC calculations based on U.S. Census Bureau, 2021 ACS one-year sample using IPUMS USA andthe definition of low-paid jobs in note 1, supra.

7.

Figures are for 2021 and include ACS respondents who self-identified as having at least one of thefollowing physical or cognitive difficulties: hearing difficulty, vision difficulty, cognitive difficultyincluding remembering or decision-making, disability limiting mobility, disability limiting independent
living, or personal care limitation.

8.

“Disability Impacts All of Us,” Disability and Health Data System, Centers for Disease Control andPrevention, last modified May 15, 2023, https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/infographicdisability-impacts-all.html.

9.

NWLC calculations using “Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics—2021,” BLS, February2022, https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/disabl_02242022.pdf (Table 1).

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | ENDNOTES

10.

Joelle Gamble & Megan Dunn-Paul, “COVID-19 and Employment Trends for People with Disabilities,”
U.S. Department of Labor Blog, January 3, 2023, https://blog.dol.gov/2023/01/03/covid-19-andemployment-trends-for-people-with-disabilities.

11.

“Persons with a Disability: Labor Force Characteristics—2021” (Table 1).

12.

See generally, e.g., Rebecca Vallas, Kimberly Knackstedt, Hayley Brown, Julie Cai, Shawn Fremstad& Andrew Stettner, “Economic Justice Is Disability Justice,” The Century Foundation, April 2022,
https://tcf.org/content/report/economic-justice-disability-justice/; Azza Altiraifi, “Advancing
Economic Security for People with Disabilities,” Center for American Progress, July 2019, https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/disability/reports/2019/07/26/472686/advancing-economicsecuritypeople-disabilities/.

13.

Mason Ameri et al., “The Disability Employment Puzzle: A Field Study on Employer Hiring Behavior,”
NBER Working Paper no. 21560, September 2015, https://www.nber.org/papers/w21560.

14.

The Americans with Disabilities Act established important protections, but its implementation andenforcement has yet to fulfill its promise. See generally, e.g., “The Americans with Disabilities Act
at 25: Cause for Celebration and Renewed Resolve,” National Disability Rights Network (NDRN),
July 2015, https://www.ndrn.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/ADA_at_25_Final.pdf; “2020 Progress
Report on National Disability Policy: Increasing Disability Employment,” National Council on Disability,
July 2020, https://ncd.gov/sites/default/files/NCD_Progress_Report_508_0.pdf.

15.

See “14(C) Certificate Holders,” Wage & Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, last modified
June 1, 2023, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/workers-with-disabilities/section-14c/certificateholders; Rabia Belt & Doron Dorfman, “Subminimum Employment for People with Disabilities,” SLS
Blogs: Legal Aggregate, Nov. 1, 2018, https://law.stanford.edu/2018/11/01/subminimum-employmentfor-people-with-disabilities/. See also, e.g., “2020 Progress Report on National Disability Policy:
Increasing Disability Employment” at 40.

16.

See, e.g., Altiraifi, “Advancing Economic Security for People with Disabilities.”17.

See generally, e.g., Nanette Goodman, Michael Morris & Kelvin Boston, “Financial Inequality:
Disability, Race and Poverty in America,” National Disability Institute, September 2017, http://www.
advancingstates.org/sites/nasuad/files/Disability-Race-Poverty-in-America.pdf; Altiraifi, “Advancing
Economic Security for People with Disabilities;” Vallas et al., “Economic Justice Is Disability Justice.”18.

Age ranges refer to respondents’ ages in 2021.

19.

People who worked full time are those who reported usually working 35 hours or more per week.
Those who worked full time, year-round are those who reported usually working 35 hours or more per
week for 50 or more weeks of the year.

20.

People working part time are those who reported usually worked between one and 34 hours per week.

21.

Brooke LePage, “Part-Time Workers Are Facing Heightened Uncertainty Due to COVID—and Most Are
Women,” NWLC, February 2022, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Part-time-workersfactsheet-v2-2.1.22.pdf.

22.

Lonnie Golden & Jaeseung Kim, “The Involuntary Part-Time Work and Underemployment Problem
in the U.S.,” Center for Law & Social Policy, August 2020, https://ww.clasp.org/sites/default/files/
publications/2020/08/GWC2029_Center%20For%20Law.pdf.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | ENDNOTES

23.

“Poverty Thresholds, 2021,” U.S. Census Bureau, last modified April 21, 2023, https://www.census.gov/
data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/historical-poverty-thresholds.html.

24.

“Family Budget Calculator,” EPI, March 2022, https://www.epi.org/resources/budget/. Data are in2020 dollars.

25.

See generally, e.g., “Collateral Damage: Scheduling Challenges for Workers in Low-Paid Jobs andTheir Consequences,” NWLC, December 2020, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/
Collateral-Damage-2020-12.18.20.pdf; LePage, “Part-Time Workers Are Facing Heightened Uncertainty
Due to COVID”; “Time to Care: Paid Family and Medical Leave and the FAMILY Act,” NWLC, May 2023,
https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/pfml-2023-5.15.23-v2.pdf; “Paid Sick Days and the
Healthy Families Act,” NWLC, May 2023, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/psd-20235.15.23-v2.pdf.

26.

See Sarah Jane Glynn, “Breadwinning Mothers Are Critical to Families’ Economic Security,” Center
for American Progress, March 2021, https://www.americanprogress.org/article/breadwinningmothers-critical-familys-economic-security/; Jasmine Tucker & Julie Vogtman, “When Hard WorkIs Not Enough: Women in Low-Paid Jobs,” NWLC, April 2020, at 6, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/
uploads/2022/02/Women-in-Low-Paid-Jobs-report_pp04-FINAL-4.2.pdf.

27.

Gould & deCourcy, “Low-Wage Workers Have Seen Historically Fast Real Wage Growth in the
Pandemic Business Cycle.”28.

“State Minimum Wages,” National Conference of State Legislatures, last modified August 30, 2022,
https://www.ncsl.org/labor-and-employment/state-minimum-wages. Nine states (Alaska, Arizona,
Colorado, Maine, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio, South Dakota, and Washington) automatically increased
their minimum wage rates in 2021 based on cost of living. Seventeen states (Arkansas, California,
Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey,
New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Virginia) raised wages due to previously
approved legislation or ballot initiatives. Rhode Island and Delaware also enacted new legislation in
2021 to raise their minimum wages to $15 per hour by 2025.

29.

Shengwei Sun, “National Snapshot: Poverty Among Women & Families,” NWLC, Jan. 2023, https://nwlc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023_nwlc_PovertySnapshot-converted-1.pdf. Due to data
constraints, NWLC’s analysis of poverty among women in low-paid jobs above refers only to theofficial poverty measure.

HARD WORK IS NOT ENOUGH | ENDNOTES

30. For example, in the 15 states with the highest poverty rates for women in low-paid jobs in 2021, only
four had a minimum wage above the federal level of $7.25 per hour, none had a minimum wage above$11 per hour, and all had a minimum cash wage for tipped workers below $5.50 per hour. In contrast,in the 15 states with the lowest poverty rates for women in low-paid jobs in 2021, all but three had
minimum wages above the federal level, half had minimum wages at or above $11 per hour, and mosthad tipped minimum wages above $5.50 per hour, including four that required employers to pay
tipped workers the full minimum wage, before tips. See Appendix II, Table 2, and “2021 – Minimum
Wages for Tipped Employees,” Wage & Hour Division, U.S. Department of Labor, last modified
September 30, 2021, https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/minimum-wage/tipped/2021. See also
“One Fair Wage: Women Fare Better in States with Equal Treatment for Tipped Workers,” NWLC, lastmodified February 22, 2021, https://nwlc.org/resource/one-fair-wage/.
31.

See, e.g., Laura Valle Gutierrez, Julie Kashen & Ellie Kaverman, “Rescuing Child Care: The American
Rescue Plan Act’s Positive Impact for Families,” The Century Foundation, January 2023, https://
production-tcf.imgix.net/app/uploads/2023/01/11105332/Rescuing-Child-Care-The-ARP-Acts-PositiveImpact-for-Families.pdf; “ARP Child Care Stabilization Funding State and Territory Fact Sheets,” Officeof Child Care, Administration for Children & Families, U.S. Department of Health & Human Services,
accessed June 21, 2023, https://www.acf.hhs.gov/occ/map/arp-act-stabilization-funding-stateterritory-fact-sheets.

32.

Julie Kashen, Laura Valle Gutierrez, Lea Woods & Jessica Milli, “Child Care Cliff: 3.2 Million Children
Likely to Lose Spots with End of Federal Funds,” The Century Foundation, June 2023, https://tcf.org/
content/report/child-care-cliff/.

33.

See “Monthly Poverty Data,” Center on Poverty & Social Policy, Columbia University, accessed June 21,2023, https://www.povertycenter.columbia.edu/forecasting-monthly-poverty-data.

34.

BLS, “Occupations with the Most Job Growth, 2021 and Projected 2031,” Table 1.4 in Occupational
Employment and Wage Statistics, last modified September 8, 2022, https://www.bls.gov/emp/tables/
occupations-most-job-growth.htm.

WOMEN IN LOW-PAID JOBS | ENDNOTES