Monday, May 24, 2010
Wealth inequality between white and black Americans has continued to widen since the 1980s. The Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University examined economic data gathered from a group of 2,000 families from 1984-2007 and concluded that the wealth gap (not including home equity) is now an average of $95,000, up from $20,000 when the study began.
During the period of study, middle-income white households saw their assets reach an average of $74,000 by 2007, whereas even high-income black families have seen their wealth drop from a peak of $25,000 to only $18,000. And today, a quarter of all black households have no assets whatsoever to fall back on in tough economic times.
The report suggests various reasons for the growing gap, the most important of which deal with debt: “African-Americans and Hispanics were at least twice as likely to receive high-cost home mortgages as whites with similar incomes.” In addition, minorities have more trouble obtaining mortgages at all and often turn to credit cards, which charge a much higher interest rate.
-Noel Brinkerhoff, David Wallechinsky
The Racial Wealth Gap Increases Fourfold (by Thomas Shapiro, Tatjana Meschede, and Laura Sullivan, Institute on Assets and Social Policy) (pdf)
A $95,000 Question: Why are Whites Five Times Richer than Blacks iu the US? (by Chris McGreal, The Guardian)
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