The gender wage gap—the difference between what men and women earn—remains a serious issue in the United States. For Latinas the wage gap is especially wide, including in Santa Cruz County. In this report we use data from the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey (ACS) five-year estimates for 2019–23 to investigate Latinas’ participation in the civilian labor force and their hourly earnings. Our findings highlight the stark economic inequalities experienced by Latina workers.

Copublished by the UCLA Chicano Studies Research Center, the Latina Futures 2050 Lab, and the UC Santa Cruz Dolores Huerta Research Center for the Americas.