This story was originally published on The 19th.
Sparse economic data on Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women has painted an inaccurate reality of economic well-being and hampered communities’ efforts to address disparities. It’s an issue that Wednesday’s AAPI Women’s Equal Pay Day—April 5, 2023—attempts to spotlight.
On average, AAPI women earn 80 cents for every $1 earned by white men when looking at both full- and part-time workers, more than any other racial group of women.
But that figure obscures the harsher realities faced by Southeast Asian, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander women, who see some of the largest wage gaps in the country.
The 80 cent average captures an enormous range: Taiwanese women earn more than white men, about $1.08 for every white man’s $1, while Nepalese women earn 48 cents on the dollar.
The AAPI umbrella encompasses the varied experiences of people across continents and oceans, missing the unique experiences of those communities in the United States.
Stereotypes about AAPI communities have undermined efforts to make the case for better data collection, said Yvonne Hsu, the chief policy and government affairs officer for the National Asian Pacific American Women’s Forum.
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