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Community Reinvestment
America's Top Housing Official Must Aid Struggling Homeowners
May 14, 2012 — The Huffington Post
by:Preeti Vissa
If one man can be described as absolutely key to solving the... [ More ]
Losing end
May 02, 2012 — San Francisco Chronicle
by: Andrew S. Ross
Losing end: That 9.8 percent figure ... [ More ]
Study finds more bank branches, but only in higher-income areas
May 01, 2012 — A new study finds the number of bank and thrift offices has risen 8.4% since 2006 in areas with median incomes of $10... [ More ]
Wealth divide
Wealth differs from income as a measure of well-being because it measures the value of assets that the family or individual has been able to accrue. Increases in asset value such as home equity and stock appreciation add to wealth, while mortgage and credit card debt deduct from wealth. It is therefore possible to have a positive income, but have negative wealth, where the sum of your debts is greater than your income. As a matter of fact, one out of every four Blacks and Latinos has negative net worth[1].
[1] Pew Hispanic Center. "The Wealth of Hispanic Households: 1996 to 2002," Rakesh Kochar, October 2004. Available at http://pewhispanic.org/files/reports/34.pdf.
Median Net Worth
For every $1 in net worth held by the median White person in America, the average Latino has 13 cents, and the average Black person has 15 cents. Specifically, the median Black family in the United States has a net worth of $20,600 and the median Latino family has $18,600, while the median White family has a net worth of $140,700.[1]
The difference in net worth can be directly attributed to homeownership, since home equity constitutes the largest share of household net worth in the United States, accounting for 41.7% of total net worth.[2] Accordingly, the median net worth for renters in 2001 was $4800 compared with $171,700 for homeowners.[3]
[1] Institute for Policy Studies, 2008 http://www.ips-dc.org/articles/454)
[2] Census Bureau Report on New Worth and Asset Ownership 2002
[3] Social Benefits of Homeownership and Stable Housing- National Association of Realtors, January 2006 http://www.wright-vanhomes.com/assets/social_benefits.pdf
Financial Assets
- 43.4% of Whites have retirement accounts as opposed to just 18% of people of color.[1]
- While 91% of Whites have liquid assets (such as a checking account), only 60% of blacks and 53% of Hispanics have liquid assets.
- While 36% of Whites own stocks, only 9% of Blacks and 7% of Latinos own stocks. Finally, while 8% of Whites own bonds, only 2% of Blacks and Latinos own bonds. [2]
- 79% of White employees have pension wealth, while 66% of Black employees and 47% of Hispanic Employees have pension wealth[3]