To understand how wealth inequality persists, it’s important to study disparities in and across ethnic groups and compare them, says economist William A. “Sandy” Darity.
There’s just one problem: there’s not a much data.
A leading U.S. economist and expert in wealth inequality, Darity is a professor of public policy, African and African American studies and economics at Duke University.
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Darity’s
His Baby Bonds proposal has become a pillar of Sen. Cory Booker’s campaign for president. Baby Bonds are an idea to help create wealth equality by endowing every newborn infant with an amount of money at birth — say $50. The value of the endowment would grow with the child, based on the wealth of the child’s family. At age 18, the beneficiary can access the money.
Darity and a team of scholars have produced a series of reports on wealth disparity and the implications for U.S. economic health, equity
The most recent report, released today, is on race and wealth in Miami, Florida.
“Wealth is crucial,” according to the authors of the report. “It is a store of resources that gives families security during emergencies and allows them to secure advantages that foster the well-being of the next generation. Wealth enables families and individuals to make investments in homes, education, businesses, and overall well-being. In addition, wealth provides resilience over a lifetime.”
These
By comparison, median wealth for white households was estimated at $107,000.
Cuban households: $22,000
Caribbean Blacks households: $12,000
Puerto Rican households: negative median wealth (-$3,940).
South American households: $1,200
Other Latinx households: $10,500
White households median value of liquid assets: $10,750
Whites holding checking and savings accounts: 93.2 percent
40 percent of white households own stocks
Student loan debt is highest for Caribbean Blacks and South Americans. U.S. Blacks report high student loan debt but low rate of degree attainment. This means they lack the labor market returns conferred by bachelor’s degrees but still have the burden of student loan debt.
Amongst Cubans: 63.9 percent
Whites: 63.6 percent
Caribbean Blacks: 61.6 percent
U.S. blacks: 50.8 percent
Puerto Ricans: 47 percent
More than 90 percent of whites and 86 percent of Cubans owned a vehicle, while78 percent of U.S. Blacks owns a vehicle.
“The large disparities identified in this report demonstrate the persistence of wealth divides and raise fundamental questions for policymakers,”
