Hispanic women contribute $1.3 billion to national GDP, more than 47 states

A new study from Bank of America conducted by professors at California Lutheran University and UCLA revealed that Hispanic women contributed $1.3 billion to the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2021. The report was released Wednesday and is intended to show the contribution of Hispanic women to the United States.

“This exciting body of work captures the positive growth and contributions that U.S. Latinas from multiple generations have been making to the U.S. economy, and confirms that Latinas are a driving force. We see similar momentum reflected in our overall business as well as many of the same key drivers found in our own research,” said Jennifer Auerbach-Rodriguez, Strategic Growth Markets & Client Development Executive at Merrill Wealth Management.

In that regard, the report explained that the contribution of Hispanics to GDP is greater than the economies of most states, with the exception of California, Texas and New York. It highlighted that between 2010 and 2021, the GDP of U.S. Latina women increased a total of 51.1%, compared to only 18.8% of non-Hispanic women's GDP. In other words, U.S. Latina women's GDP is growing 2.7 times faster.

Also, Bank of America indicated that between 2010 and 2021, the number of Hispanic women in the labor force grew a total of 32.9% compared to only 2.7% of non-Hispanic women. Despite being only 9.3% of the U.S. population, Latina women account for 30.2% of the growth in the U.S. labor force since 2010.

"From 2000 to 2021, the Latina labor force participation rate increased 7.5 percentage points, while the rate for non-Hispanic females was flat. U.S. Latinas, who started the century with a participation rate a full 5.0 percentage points lower, are now 2.5 percentage points more likely to be actively working than their non-Hispanic female counterparts," the report explained.

Regarding the educational attainment of Latina women, the study noted that the number of Hispanic women with a bachelor's degree or higher level of education increased by 103% between 2010 and 2021, while the number of non-Hispanic women with a higher level of education only increased by 38.3%. This means that the educational attainment of Latina women is also growing 2.7 times faster than that of non-Hispanic women.