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Median Wealth for Single Black Women in Prime of Career: $5.00

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B

Barrett2

Member
The median wealth for single black women in the prime of their working years in this country is $5, according to data from the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances. The median wealth for single white women during the prime of their working years, meanwhile, is $42,600 (which is, in turn, only 61 percent of what single white men of that age have). Wealth was measured as the total of one’s assets minus debts. Black women were more likely than other women to have been caught up in subprime lending. A married or cohabiting black woman had a median net worth of $31,500.
Read it at Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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Link

I said wow.
 
RubxQub

RubxQub

φίλω ἐξεχέγλουτον καί ψευδολόγον οὖκ εἰπόν
What the fuck...
 
H

harSon

Banned
Not surprising.

I don't know the figure by heart, but the majority of accumulated wealth in this country is passed down from the parent, which most blacks lack for obvious reasons. I'm willing to bet that there's a huge gap between white and black women, in terms of who had to pay for college out of pocket and who received financial assistance from parents.
 
P

Phobophile

A scientist and gentleman in the manner of Batman.
Link to the ACTUAL article:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041225-28.stm

Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working years their median wealth amounts to only $5.

In a groundbreaking report released Monday by a leading economic research group, social scientists turned a spotlight on the grave financial challenges facing an often overlooked group of women, many of whom could not take an unpaid sick day or repair a major appliance without going into debt.

"It's rather shocking," said Meizhu Lui, director of the Closing the Gap Initiative based in Oakland, Calif., who contributed to the report "Lifting as We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth and America's Future."

PDF
Racial disparities in net worth
Among the most startling revelations in the wealth data is that while single white women in the prime of their working years (ages 36 to 49) have a median wealth of $42,600 (still only 61 percent of their single white male counterparts), the median wealth for single black women is only $5.

"Even for those of us who have been looking at the wealth gap for a while, we were shocked and amazed at how little women of color have," Ms. Lui said.

Researchers at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development, based in Oakland, Calif., analyzed data from the 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, a voluminous report the Federal Reserve Board issues every three years that examines household finances in this country.

Wealth, or net worth, measures the total of one's assets -- cash in the bank, stocks, bonds and real estate; minus debts -- home mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student loans. The most recent financial data was collected before the economic downturn, so the current numbers likely are worse now than at the time of the study.

Black women, in general, were more likely to have participated in the subprime loan crisis with upper-income black women being five times more likely to have received a high-cost mortgage than upper-income white men.

"The popular image is they spend too much, which is the reason they are running up credit card and consumer debt, but the cost of living has risen faster than income, and they need to go into debt for basic daily necessities," Ms. Lui said. "It's compounded because unemployment is twice as high in the black community than it is in the white community."

For all working-age black women 18 to 64, the financial picture is bleak. Their median household wealth is only $100. Hispanic women in that age group have a median wealth of $120.

"That means half of [black women] have a net worth of more than $100 and half have a net worth of less than $100," Ms. Lui said. "So that gives you an idea of how far in debt some women of color are."

Married or cohabitating white women have a median wealth of $167,500. Married or cohabitating black women have a median net worth of $31,500.

The reasons behind the daunting financial challenges black women face are numerous and complex.

"There are excuses and circumstances that have evolved in society, which put black women where they are," said Esther Bush, executive director of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, who said in Pittsburgh more than 70 percent of African-American families are headed by single women.

The recession has hit single mothers especially hard.

According to a recent report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research and the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania, more than four out of 10 families headed by single mothers in Pittsburgh and more than one in three in Pennsylvania, live in poverty.

In Pittsburgh and across the country, the financial burdens of single parenthood fall mostly on women, but black women are more likely to endure the work and responsibility of raising children on their own. They are more likely to be the backbone of their families and communities, with greater responsibilities to support struggling friends and families.

In a 2008 study of black women and their money, the ING Foundation found that black women -- who frequently manage the assets of their households -- financially support friends, family and their houses of worship to a much greater degree than the general population.

They also are more likely to be employed in jobs and industries -- such as service occupations -- with lower pay and less access to health insurance. And when their working days are done, they rely most heavily on Social Security because they are less likely to have personal savings, retirement accounts or company pensions. Their Social Security benefits are likely to be lower, too, because of their low earnings.

Rather than strictly comparing income, researchers in the Insight study looked at the wealth gap. The current economic crisis has shown that a person's wealth affects not only retirement security, but also a person's ability to handle financial setbacks such as a job loss or a health emergency.

High unemployment and high incarceration rates for black men also lower the likelihood of single black women finding a partner to help build a more secure financial future.

Ms. Lui said the Insight report would be used to encourage the government to close the wealth gap and improve the outlook for women of color, just as it did for Americans who received land through the Homestead Act, and education through the GI bill.

"If wealth was based on hard work, African-Americans would be the wealthiest people in our nation," she said. "It's not about behavior. It's about government policies. Who does the government help and who is it not helping?

"Our government knows how to build wealth for people. They've done it for others and they can do it for all of us. They need to focus some attention on women of color. Look at the situation and see what we need."



Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10068/1041225-28.stm#ixzz0hpZopI2K
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S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
High unemployment and high incarceration rates for black men also lower the likelihood of single black women finding a partner to help build a more secure financial future.
Click to expand...

Dear black women, we have an unlimited supply of thin white dudes with bulging Adam's apples and excellent FPS skills who can pleasure you in ways you definitely haven't even imagined.

If you like bacne, our shit is bananas.

Yours sincerely,

Men of Gaf.

P.S., we may or may not tip Pizza guys. There is no way of knowing.
 
O

OrangeGrayBlue

Member
Gallbaro said:
uhhh, someone fails at math.
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Yeah, it's at least $2.25. How silly of me.


I actually am horrible at math. I assume you're saying she was already discounted from the survey because she throws the average off balance? I forget the exact term. If that's not what you're referring to, please enlighten me.


I smell a ban.
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For what? Are we not allowed to make mediocre Oprah jokes? Or are you saying I was trying to discredit black women? Because it certainly wasn't the latter.
 
V

viciouskillersquirrel

Member
I have to wonder how they work this out. Do single black women in the US never buy cars or houses? What do they count as an asset? Would a car be an asset? How about a television set?

But yeah, inherited wealth and the effects it has on disposable income screw with the statistics.

I wonder what my net worth would be right now. I have a few assets (hopefully) appreciating away and I own my car outright, but I also a ton of debt (mostly in the form of a mortgage and a HECS debt) and waste a lot of money on stupid crap, so it might end up as a zero-sum game.

OrangeGrayBlue said:
Yeah, it's at least $2.25. How silly of me.


I actually am horrible at math. I assume you're saying she was already discounted from the survey because she throws the average off balance? I forget the exact term. If that's not what you're referring to, please enlighten me.
Click to expand...
Protip: Medians and means don't work the same way.
 
T

themustardman

Member
OrangeGrayBlue said:
Yeah, it's at least $2.25. How silly of me.


I actually am horrible at math. I assume you're saying she was already discounted from the survey because she throws the average off balance? I forget the exact term. If that's not what you're referring to, please enlighten me.
Click to expand...
Median, not mean.
 
R

Raistlin

Post Count: 9999
OrangeGrayBlue said:
Yeah, it's at least $2.25. How silly of me.


I actually am horrible at math. I assume you're saying she was already discounted from the survey because she throws the average off balance? I forget the exact term. If that's not what you're referring to, please enlighten me.
Click to expand...

Look up the difference between
mean and median


For what? Are we not allowed to make mediocre Oprah jokes? Or are you saying I was trying to discredit black women? Because it certainly wasn't the latter.
Click to expand...

I'm really not sure what he's talking about. Crap, the post above this one is obviously in poorer taste, and no one's gonna comment on it.
 
X

X-Burner

Banned
OrangeGrayBlue said:
Yeah, it's at least $2.25. How silly of me.

For what? Are we not allowed to make mediocre Oprah jokes? Or are you saying I was trying to discredit black women? Because it certainly wasn't the latter.
Click to expand...

My Apologies good sir. :D
 
empty vessel

empty vessel

Member
Gallbaro said:
Kill whitey!!!!

I am sure that the extremely high instances of single motherhood has nothing to do with this.
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And I'm sure the extremely high poverty rate of black persons has nothing to do with that.
 
Bboy AJ

Bboy AJ

My dog was murdered by a 3.5mm audio port and I will not rest until the standard is dead
OrangeGrayBlue said:
So what's the median after you remove Oprah? $1.48?
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OrangeGrayBlue said:
I assume you're saying she was already discounted from the survey because she throws the average off balance?
Click to expand...
:lol :lol :lol

got damn
 
S

SolarPowered

Member
And it doesn't fucking surprise me one bit.

Some people have no idea what really goes down in the worst parts of the US. Some people have really been left behind.
 
empty vessel

empty vessel

Member
JosM88 said:
And it doesn't fucking surprise me one bit.

Some people have no idea what really goes down in the worst parts of the US. Some people have really been left behind.
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Yep, there is a kind of internal third world country here. The US has one of the industrial world's worst, if not the worst, wealth disparities.
 
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