The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society.
Faces of the Forced Out: Black Women Pushed Out of Work
Black women have experienced disproportionate economic harm from federal workforce attacks and attacks on so-called “illegal DEI” during Trump’s second term. These impacts were not accidental; but rather stemmed from deliberate policy choices targeting diversity, equity, inclusion efforts, public institutions, and federal jobs. The Black women who were forced out of the workforce by this administration’s reckless actions are highly educated, deeply experienced workers concentrated in public service, education, healthcare, media, and community-centered professions. The DEI movement created both direct and indirect pathways for Black women into the workforce. However, the anti-DEI rhetoric framed Black women, and anyone who was not a cisgendered white male, as inherently undeserving.
In early 2026, the 75 Million Campaign, in partnership with the National Women’s Law Center, spoke with 10 Black women who were directly impacted by this administration’s actions and forced out of their jobs. They described the shock and betrayal of losing their livelihoods, the pain of feeling targeted because of their race and gender, and for those who served in the federal government, the chaotic manner in which they were removed from their jobs. For many, the financial impact of their job losses extended beyond these individual women and were passed through to their families and communities, and were still being felt long after they had experienced the loss.
The women we spoke with are some of the many Black women who were unexpectedly forced out of their jobs because of the Trump administration.
Often an economic canary in the coalmine, Black women’s experiences over the past year may be a warning sign for the broader economy. Their stories resonate especially at a time when women and families are struggling to afford rising costs on basic needs like health care, gas, and food, and highlight how attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion are really attacks on economic opportunity for all of us.
The data shows that their stories also reflect a larger pattern of economic disruption for Black women during the second Trump administration. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows volatility in the job market in 2025, particularly for Black women. Outside of the pandemic-induced recession that forced millions out of the labor force and drastically increased the number of workers who were unemployed, 2025 was the first year since 2009—when the economy was in and recovering from the Great Recession—that there was a substantial increase in the number of Black women who were unemployed. 221,000 more Black women were unemployed in December 2025 than in January 2025 when Trump took office – an increase of 37%. Unemployment rose in 2025 overall. However, the increase in unemployment for Black women was particularly acute: between January and December 2025, the unemployment rate for Black women rose 1.9 percentage points – from 5.4% in January to 7.3% in December. And while their unemployment rate has declined since then, it remains volatile from month-to-month and stands at 6.8% as of September 2026 and remains elevated compared to other groups.1
BLS data also shows many women left the labor force over the course of 2025,2 including many Black women and mothers.3 Black women have historically participated in the labor force at higher rates than many of their peers of other races and ethnicities, but their labor force participation rate declined during in 2025. Black women began trickling back into the labor force by the end of the year but ended the year with no change to their labor force participation rate in December 2025 as compared to January.4
When Black women become unemployed, they also tend to experience longer spells of unemployment compared to their white peers. In September 2026, Black women were typically experiencing unemployment spells of 15 weeks, compared to 10.5 weeks for white women and 11.9 weeks for white men. And as of September 2026, about 1 in 3 unemployed Black women aged 16 and over (33.9%) has been unemployed for six months or longer.5
Black women are being forced out of their jobs as a result of attacks on diversity, equity, and inclusion at work. Learn more about what can be done to mitigate these attacks.
- Trump’s War on Working Women
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, And Accessibility
- Advancing Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in a Time of Uncertainty: What Employers Need to Know
- NWLC Leads Letter Condemning EEOC’s Actions to Pressure Employers Into Abandoning Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Efforts
Hear from some of the Black women who have been forced out of work:
1 NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Sex and Age,” Table A-1 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm. Historical data available at https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm. NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Race, Sex, and Age” Table A-2 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm. NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age,” Table A-3 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary. (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t03.htm.
2 NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Sex and Age,” Table A-1 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm. Historical data available at https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm.
3 Katherine Gallagher Robbins and Areeba Haider, “The Share of Mothers Who Work is Shrinking – And Black Mothers Face the Steepest Declines,” (National Partnership for Women and Families, Oct 2025), https://nationalpartnership.org/report/share-of-mothers-who-work-shrinking-black-mothers-face-steepest-declines/.
4 NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Sex and Age,” Table A-1 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t01.htm. Historical data available at https://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab1.htm. NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment Status of the Civilian Population by Race, Sex, and Age” Table A-2 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t02.htm. NWLC calculations using BLS, “Employment status of the Hispanic or Latino population by sex and age,” Table A-3 in September 2026 Employment Situation Summary. (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t03.htm.
5 BLS, “Household Data Table A-36: Unemployed persons by age, sex, race, Hispanic or Latino ethnicity, marital status, and duration of unemployment,” September 2026 Employment Situation Summary, (Washington, DC: October 2, 2026), https://www.bls.gov/web/empsit/cpseea36.htm. Figures are not seasonally adjusted.