[Excerpt] Facts cannot completely describe the challenges faced by working women. But facts are important in painting a picture of the lives of working women and informing policies and actions needed. These fact sheets provide a picture of Black, Hispanic, and Asian working women in the United States in the following areas: • women’s contribution to family income; • unemployment and the effects of the recession; • families in poverty; • educational attainment and likelihood of unemployment; • the impact of educational attainment on women’s pay; • occupational distribution and impact on pay; • the wage gap between men and women; • the real cost of the wage gap; and • the impact of the gender wage gap on the retirement income of older women.