![]() ![]() And the sluggish recovery has only made matters worse, as home values recover at different rates across racial lines. In the aftermath of the bubble’s burst, black unemployment rates rose to levels twice as high as white unemployment, leading to higher rates of delinquency and foreclosure for black families. During the housing bubble that was the disastrous run-up to the Great Recession, the exposure to predatory, high-interest, and high-leverage mortgages led to an absolute wealth disaster for African-American families when the bubble burst. Richard Rothstein’s forthcoming book The Color of Law documents exactly how such policies at all levels of government robbed black families and communities of wealth.Įven as much de jure discrimination in housing was dismantled by public policy, de facto segregation and the legacy of wealth non-accumulation kept the racial wealth gap from closing. Housing policies that prevented blacks from acquiring land, created redlining and restrictive covenants, and encouraged lending discrimination reinforced the racial wealth gap for decades. Besides facing discrimination in employment and wage-setting, for generations even those African-American families that did manage to earn decent incomes were barred from accessing the most important financial market for typical families: the housing market. In short, for median families, the racial wealth gap is primarily a housing wealth gap. Overall, housing equity makes up about two-thirds of all wealth for the typical (median) household. These raw differences persist, and are growing, even after taking age, household structure, education level, income, or occupation into account.Ĭopy the code below to embed this chart on your website. More than one in four black households have zero or negative net worth, compared to less than one in ten white families without wealth, which explains the large differences in the racial wealth gap at the mean and median. Worse still, median white wealth (wealth for the family in the exact middle of the overall distribution-wealthier than half of all families and less-wealthy than half) is twelve times higher than median black wealth. ![]() Average wealth for white families is seven times higher than average wealth for black families. The racial wealth gap is much larger than the wage or income gap by race. Also, access to well-functioning financial markets that provide a healthy rate of return on savings without undue risks is crucial.įailures in the provision of these building blocks to the African-American population have led to an enormous racial wealth gap. Steady well-paid employment during one’s working life is important, as it allows for a decent standard of living plus the ability to save. In order to construct wealth, a number of building blocks are required. And wealth is needed to finance a comfortable retirement or provide an inheritance to children. Wealth also provides a buffer of economic security against periods of unemployment, or risk-taking, like starting a business. Wealth allows families to transfer income earned in the past to meet spending demands in the future, such as by building up savings to finance a child’s college education. Best of all, as an Wealth Tracker user, personal service is only a click away - whenever you have questions or need assistance, Wealth Tracker can connect you to a Financial Advisor in your area.Wealth is a crucially important measure of economic health. Additionally, the application can help you better understand certain investments through access to research reports from our nationally recognized equity research partner. When you register for Wealth Tracker, you can complete a risk profile and see if your holdings are aligned with your financial goals, tolerance for risk, and time horizon. The software will track your net worth, monitor your progress toward your goals, perform detailed analysis on your investment portfolio and illustrate your asset and sector allocations. Use Wealth Tracker to securely view all of your financial information – your investment and retirement accounts, checking and savings accounts, mortgage, student loans and other loans, credit cards, and more – in one place. Available via mobile, tablet, or any computer, Stifel Wealth Tracker is a powerful free service designed to give you a big-picture view of your financial situation so that you can chart a course for your future. ![]()
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