5 black women talk starting salaries, being underpaid and how they asked for more

By Courtney Connley via https://www.cnbc.com

Equal Pay Day, the symbolic annual reminder of how far women have to work into the new year to earn the same pay white men earned the previous year, took place this year on April 10th.

Now, four months later, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day has finally arrived. On average, black women have to work eight additional months to achieve pay equity with white men. (This year, Native American and Latina women won’t cross this threshold until September 7th and November 1st, respectively.)

Currently, black women are paid 38 percent less than white men and 21 percent less than white women, according to new data released by SurveyMonkey and LeanIn.org in partnership with the National Urban League. Over the course of a typical career, this amounts to nearly $870,000 in lost wages.

Systematic issues of discrimination and workplace bias play a huge role in these statistics. But in addition to drawing attention to the need to combat these problems, Black Women’s Equal Pay Day provides an opportunity to discuss how black women can be better advocates for themselves at work.

CNBC Make It interviewed five black women about their compensation ….

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