A research brief from the Samuel DuBois Cook Center on Social Equity and Insight Center for Community Economic Development – Women, Race & Wealth – examines the wealth inequality gap across both gender and race. The data shows that single young women (under 40), regardless of race and education, begin adulthood with very little wealth. However, looking at women’s wealth at an older age (60 plus) shows a stark contrast in outcomes. Older, single black women with a college degree have only $11,000 in median wealth as opposed to the $384,000 in median wealth of similarly situated white women. As the authors note, “black and white women are positioned differently from one another largely because white women benefit more from wealth being passed down from their families…Given past and present barriers that have kept black families from building wealth, private action and market forces alone cannot be expected to address wide-scale racial wealth inequality that is gendered.” Download the full report here.
EITC Funders
