Research carried out by online loan market platform LendingTree in the US has revealed that huge income gaps persist between Black and White employees, across almost all sectors. The study, which highlights the financial disparities between Black and White Americans, notes that there’s actually huge “economic inequality across income, wealth, savings and credit opportunities for Black people in the US”.
According to the findings, the average income for Black men is 33.7% lower than that of White men in America’s 50 largest metros. In addition, the average income for Black women is 17.5% lower compared to White women. Black and White income gaps persist across several different sectors, noted the study. In the finance and insurance sector, which includes occupations in banking, investing and insurance-related activities, Black people earn an average income 36.9% lower than that of White people. In the educational professions – from teachers and professors at all education institutions – Black people earn 8.4% less on average than their White counterparts.
RACIAL DISPARITIES
Furthermore, the report revealed that Black Americans are more than twice as likely to be denied credit. It found that, across all income levels, Black adults are more than twice as likely to be denied credit (44%) than their White counterparts (19%). The average cumulative student loan debt borrowed by Black undergraduate students who have now graduated is around $36,919 – 20% more than the $30,731 borrowed by White undergraduates.
Image credit: August de Richelieu, Pexels.
The survey also noted that the median net worth for Black people grew by 29% from 2013 to 2016 – the most recent three-year period for which data is available – despite falling substantially between 2007 and 2010 and between 2010 and 2013. The median net worth for White people, however, rose just 17% in the 2013-to-2016 period.
Commenting on the findings, LendingTree’s Chief Economist Tendayi Kapfidze stated, “It’s encouraging that Americans are having these conversations more openly and with more vigour and purpose. Highlighting these racial disparities shows that systemic issues have held back generations of our fellow citizens. It is ultimately to the detriment of everyone as the economy is deprived of our best efforts by denying opportunities to many capable people. The creation of these disparities was and is often government-sanctioned and enforced, and so they should be addressed via legislative remedies in addition to societal change.”
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