White Women More Likely Than Black Women to Move Up Income Ladder Due to Differences in Partnering, Men’s Incomes

Ariel Binder, Caroline Walker, Jonathan Eggleston and Marta Murray-Close

May 9, 2023

No matter their childhood family income, White and Asian women were more likely than women from other race/ethnic groups to have access to more income as adults because they were more likely to have a partner and that partner was more likely to be affluent.

White women were not only more likely than Black women to have a spouse or partner but their spouses and partners tended to earn more, making White women more likely to attain upward mobility through partnerships, according to new U.S. Census Bureau research.