The retail industry is guilty of treating minority employees unequally by paying them less and not promoting them as often as their white counterparts, the Associated Press reports.
The study was conducted by the NAACP and found that Black and Latino retail employees are paid only 75 percent of what white associates make in the same positions. The gaps are jarring, as Black salespeople earn $11.54 per hour on average compared to $15.32 paid to white salespeople. Hispanic salespeople do only slightly better, but still well below white people in the same position, by making $11.71 on average.
Black workers are also much less likely to be promoted, the report shows. Even though they make up 14 percent and 12 percent of cashiers and salespeople, respectively, only eight percent of supervisors are Black. Thus, minority retail workers are much more likely to live in poverty. Overall, nine percent of retail workers are below the poverty line, but 17 percent of impoverished retail employees are Black compared to only seven percent of white associates.
Those behind the study hope that the recent minimum wage increase to $15, in places like Los Angeles and Seattle, will help lessen this gap.
You can read the whole study here.