A NEW STUDY released by the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and the Corporation For Economic Development (CFED) looked at trends in household wealth from 1983 to 2013. During that thirty-year period, the study found that the average wealth of white households grew at three times the rate of growth for African-American families and 1.2 times the rate for Latino families.The study argued that if that trend continues without policy interventions, there will be virtually no way for black and Latino families to catch up quickly: the average black family would need 228 years to build the wealth of a white family today. For Latino families, it would take 84 years.
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The Average Black Family Would Need 228 Years to Build the Wealth of a White Family Today.
We’ve known about racial income gaps for years, but what we don’t seem to talk about enough is the “wealth gap” and how that ultimately ends up making thegreatest difference in determining who gets ahead. For example, one study found in 2011, the median income for whites was about 1.5 times greater than it was for blacks and Latinos. But the median household wealth for whites was 16 times greater than it was for blacks and Latinos. Years of institutionalized discrimination in all areas-labor, housing, education etc.- help create this gap.
Read the full article in The Nation explaining the racial wealth gap here. 