Perilous Times for Black Women in the U.S. Workforce 

Despite rapid growth and reportedly some of the highest labor force participation rates, Black women have experienced the brunt of recent job loss in the U.S. economy. Between January and December 2025, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Black women surged from 5.4 percent to 7.5 percent while the jobless rate for White women remained relatively stable, hovering between 3.2 percent and 3.7 percent. In absolute numbers, more than 350,000 Black women were forced out of the U.S. labor market in 2025.

Two explanations have been advanced for the sharp uptick in Black female unemployment. The first is that the disproportionate concentration of less than college educated Black women in “volatile sectors like retail and hospitality makes them ‘canaries in the coal mine’ in the current economic downturn.” The second is that the downsizing of federal government departments and agencies as well as the dismantling of DEI programs and equity focused initiatives in both public institutions and private sector organizations have disproportionately impacted college educated and professional Black women.  

While plausible, the veracity of these arguments must await future releases of data from the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, recent research, reviewed here, offers insights into a set of longstanding challenges that require major workforce and workplace as well as healthcare delivery accommodations to ensure Black women can successfully compete in the U.S. labor market moving forward.

Role management and health challenges

Research documents that balancing multiple societal roles (e.g., as sole, or primary household breadwinner, motherhood, and/or caretaker for aging family members) while simultaneously navigating competitive workplace dynamics exact an especially heavy toll on Black women’s health and wellbeing. Often, the agency necessary to meet and exceed performance expectations is not fully available to Black women in work environments. And the corresponding negative health outcomes are alarming.

Among the U.S. female population, Black women reportedly experience health issues earlier in life than women of other race/ethnic backgrounds and on average are 7.5 years older biologically than White women 49 to 55 years of age; carry the highest mortality for all cancers combined; bear the greatest burden of hypertension, stroke, heart failure, and coronary artery disease; and four out of five are obese or overweight.  

Further, and most disconcerting, research confirms these inequities hold true irrespective of Black women’s socio-economic status, meaning advanced levels of educational attainment, well-paying jobs with benefits, access to healthcare, and residing in “safe” neighborhoods or zip codes do not protect the health of Black women. Two rigorous research studies are illustrative.

One, which focuses on the self-reported health status of various demographic groups, demonstrates statistically that Blacks experience “diminished returns” from advanced education and higher incomes, which exacerbate health gaps for a population that is already significantly predisposed to health risks. And the other validates that Black and White women do not share the same health benefits of advanced education and increased incomes, specifically demonstrating that the Pregnancy Related Mortality Ratio (PMPR) is 5.2 times higher for college educated Black women than for college-educated White women.

Workplace challenges

For Black women, the inequity does not stop with health outcomes. It is often embedded within many organizational cultures and work environments, as revealed in a recent exploratory study of what it is like to be Black in corporate America and other work environments. Among the study’s key findings:

• Black women (16%) were more likely than White women (2%) to feel someone of their race would never achieve a top position at their company.
• Black women (69%) were more likely than White women (16%) to feel Black employees must work harder to advance.
• Black women (35%) were more likely than White women (20%) to believe people at their workplaces are afraid to address bias when it occurs.

When combined with the often-repetitive cycle of proving value by taking on high risk, high-stress assignments, these attitudes and beliefs, or realities for some, create unparalleled obstacles to success and advancement in such environments, especially for Black women having to balance multiple—and often conflicting—societal roles, forcing them to sometimes abandon their voices, defaulting to survival rather than self-advocacy and challenging the status quo. Research substantiates how this proverbial clipping of vocal cords can lead to burnout and depression; and, in the absence of appropriate HR accommodations, Black women’s exits from their organizations or careers and, in some instances, from the workforce altogether.

Recommended actions

The challenges that Black women face accentuate the urgent need for an all-hands-on deck approach to successfully nurture, grow, and develop the U.S. workforce of the future. Three recommendations are offered here:

First, to reduce health inequities among women, the U.S. health care system and its providers must demonstrate a much higher level of sensitivity and unwavering commitment to specifically addressing the unique health care needs of Black women. That includes having culturally competent staff with the active listening skills to “hear” and “respond” to the expressed concerns and needs of Black female patients. Additionally, employers must challenge the myth of meritocracy and hold leaders accountable for creating inclusive environments where trust and respect permeate; in turn lowering anxiety, reducing stress, and stress-related conditions such as hypertension. More than 50 percent of Black women reportedly suffer from hypertension.

Second, and more broadly, given the impact of ongoing turbulence and uncertainty on Black women - and U.S. individuals and households in general, government, K-20 education system, and other public and private sector leaders should mandate that their organizations conduct pulse surveys like the Census Bureau’s monthly Household Trends and Outlook Pulse Survey (HTOPS), which is designed “to efficiently collect data on emerging social and economic matters facing U.S. households.” At the organization or firm level, the pulse survey should be administered quarterly and designed to identify and monitor barriers, constraints, and challenges that affect employee morale and performance.

Such surveys are necessary because many of the challenges that employees, especially Black female employees, face or experience fall into a category we define as iceberg demographics. That is, like the 90 percent of a freshwater iceberg that is below the water line, many of the forces that shape or affect employee morale, behavior, and performance may not be visibly apparent or evident in routine encounters. In fact, they may be misconstrued in work environments as signs of disinterest, disengagement, or incompetence.

Iceberg demographic workforce and workplace barriers can exist at the person-level (e.g., cognitive impairments and autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and lupus) or the household level (e.g., food insecurity and/or threats of eviction or foreclosure). Properly executed, pulse surveys can lead to data-informed human resource management strategies and policies that reduce costly employee turnover (i.e., quits and terminations) by improving employee morale, health, well-being, and sense of belonging in workplaces. More specifically, by introducing these specific data-driven strategies, organizations can establish supportive frameworks that encourage greater engagement among Black female employees and the wider workforce.

Finally, education, training, and professional development programs must do a better job of equipping Black females—indeed all participants—with the requisite business and professional communication skills that employers are demanding in today’s turbulent and uncertain global business environment. To paraphrase Mahin & Johnson, communication is not fluff, it is performance infrastructure, a core operating asset required for organizations to “groove on the ambiguity” that characterizes business and society today. Particularly for Black women, deploying best in class communication and self-advocacy skills will reduce stress-induced health conditions often associated with the pressures of navigating workplace dynamics and role conflicts; and, by extension, enhance their ability to perform at elevated levels in today’s ever-changing business environments.

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