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3 Obvious Reasons for the Racial Wealth Gap in America—It's Time to Fix Them

Owning a home, then equal pay for equal work, and then having a college degree are the three factors that can make the biggest difference in closing the racial wealth gap, which is how non-whites in America are vastly less wealthy than most whites.    If blacks and Latinos owned homes as widely as whites, then median black household wealth would grow by $32,113, and median Latino wealth would grow by $29,213, a new study by Demos, a progressive think tank, and the Institute for Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University has found.  <
In the media
Steven Rosenfeld

How the Supreme Court Is About to Explode America’s Racial Wealth Gap

When discussing race, the conservative argument is best expressed by the famous words of Chief Justice John Roberts: “The best way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.” Translation: America has done bad things in its history, but those bad things are gone now, so we should move past those horrors and look forward.   Conservatives believe that if blacks and Latinos simply work hard, get a good education and earn a good income, historical racial wealth gaps will disappear.
In the media
Sean McElwee
Catherine Ruetschlin

Why America's Racial Wealth Gap Is Really a Homeownership Gap

Owning a home isn't just a fragment of the American Dream, it's the key to it.

In the media
Tanvi Misra

Unjust Public Policies Drive the Massive Racial Wealth Gap in America: Study

The yawning racial wealth gap in the United States is no accident, but rather, driven by unjust public policy decisions—from the re-segregation of education to the redlining of home ownership to poverty wages, according to a new analysis by Brandeis University and the public policy organization Demos.

In the media
Sarah Lazare

How Employer Credit Checks Are Keeping Black People Unemployed

When New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced that his office had cut a deal with the three big credit bureaus—Experian, Equifax and TransUnion—to improve the customer experience, the news shook the financial-services world into a frenzy.    “In today’s world, the consumer’s input is less important than the bank or collector’s input,” John Ulzheimer, an expert at CreditSesame, told the New York Times.
In the media
Charles D. Ellison

Researchers Design New Tool to Measure the Impact of Public Policy Choices on the Racial Wealth Gap

(New York, NY) – Though much research has been devoted to how public policy choices such as increasing the minimum wage can address economic disparities, there has been no systematic analysis of the types of public policies that offer the most potential for reducing the racial wealth gap.

Press release/statement

White High School Dropouts Are Wealthier Than Black and Hispanic College Graduates. Can a New Policy Tool Fix That?

Maybe no economic statistic captures the continuing impact of the nation’s history of inequality better than the racial wealth gap. It has left a yawning gulf that separates whites from blacks and Hispanics. And it persists across income and educational levels in ways that have left whites who are high school dropouts with a higher median new worth greater than blacks and Hispanics who are college graduates.

In the media
Michael Fletcher

Study Outlines Policy Steps to Reduce Racial Wealth Gap

If black families had the same opportunitites that white families have to increase their incomes through investments, retirement plans, and other asset-building measures, it would reduce the wealth gap between the two groups by nearly $45,000, or 43 percent, according to a report out Tuesday. For Latino families, it would reduce the gap by more than almost $52,000, or 50 percent.

In the media
Katie Johnston

Minimum Wage Boost In Seattle Faces Legal Challenge From Franchise Lobby

Next month, the nation’s biggest minimum wage hike takes effect. But its impact could be dulled if the franchise lobby has its way in court.

In the media
Cole Stangler