As 2016 Republican frontrunners continue to dismiss the wage gap as a speculative topic, a new study published on Tuesday further proves just how real the rift is for people of color.
The study, performed by the NAACP and public-policy organization Demos, found that African-American and Latino cashiers, salespeople and first-line managers are both paid less and are less likely to be promoted to higher-paid positions.
While the average white retail employee earns $10.06 as a cashier, $15.32 in sales and $17.43 as supervisors, Latinos average about $9.23 at the cash register, $11.71 as salespeople and, lagging behind all races, just $15.38 in management positions.
As a result, there are more African-American and Latino retail workers living below the poverty line than there are white employees in the same industry. According to the study, nine percent of the overall retail workforce lives in poverty. But that number jumps to 13 percent for Latinos and increases even more to 17 percent for African Americans.
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