Black Women Hit Hardest

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Top of the Morning, BFA Fam! It is another work week. Only 1 in 5 U.S. employees has a best friend at work, and it’s hurting retention, collaboration, and morale. Remote work, tech, and solo-focused culture have eroded daily connections. Leaders who intentionally foster friendships can boost loyalty, performance, and well-being, but when was the last time you made a real friend at work?

MAIN STORY

🔥 The Disproportionate Exit of Black Women from the Workforce

⚡ THE SPARK

In just three months, nearly 300,000 Black women have vanished from the U.S. workforce. This isn't a random blip; it's a crisis. Their labor force participation rate has plummeted below that of Latinas for the first time in over a year, with their real unemployment rate now hovering above 10%. As the economy adds jobs overall, Black women are being pushed out, a stark sign that for many, the promise of a "resilient labor market" is a lie. This isn't just an economic statistic; it's a systemic failure with devastating consequences for families and communities.

🧠 THE LAYER BELOW

• The public sector, long a secure path to the middle class for Black women, is being hollowed out by federal job cuts, especially in education and health.

• Federal downsizing in agencies like the Department of Education (cut by 46%) and HHS (cut by 24%) disproportionately targets sectors where Black women are concentrated.

• The aggressive rollback of DEI programs, in both the public and private sectors—has created a chilling effect and may be fueling a "last hired, first fired" mentality.

• The economic trap is real: Black women earn $0.64 for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earns, while facing triple the inflation on essentials like apparel.

• With over half of Black households led by breadwinner mothers, this workforce exit doesn’t just affect individuals; it threatens the economic stability of entire families.

• Rising unemployment for Black workers is historically a warning sign, the "canary in the coal mine", indicating a broader economic slowdown that's already underway.

🎯 THE REAL QUESTION

Why are Black women the first casualties in America's push for "efficiency," and who benefits from their economic erasure?

🔮 WHAT’S NEXT

This isn't an irreversible fate; it's the direct result of policy choices. We can reverse this trend by prioritizing the stability and growth of Black women's careers. This means not only restoring and protecting public-sector jobs in crucial fields like education and healthcare but also reinstating and strengthening DEI initiatives that have been proven to drive performance and equity. We must demand an intersectional gender lens on all economic policy, from trade and taxes to labor and education, to ensure outcomes are not unequal by design. Leaving Black women behind is not only a moral failure but an economic one, costing the U.S. billions in lost GDP.

When we protect Black women's place in the workforce, we're not just closing opportunity gaps, we're closing performance gaps for everyone.

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