the ywca and women’s economic advancement the racial wealth gap
TRANSCRIPT
The YWCA and Women’s Economic Advancement
The Racial Wealth Gap
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
Asset equity & supports for personal/home/family balance.
Service and Advocacy
understanding of WEA components
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in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
gender: malewage:18 cents/hr
gender: femalewage: 8 cents/hr
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
gender: malewage: $1.00hr
gender: femalewage: 60 cents/hr
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
in the business of women’s economic advancement since 1858
gender: femalewage: $23.00/hr
gender: malewage: $30.00/hr
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THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP
INCOME AND WEALTH
INCOME VS. WEALTH
Income is The River: One’s weekly earnings
or paycheck. Used to buy groceries,
clothing, pay rent, and pay for entertainment.
Excess income beyond what one needs to survive can be saved, building one’s wealth.
Wealth is The Reservoir: Total value of what one
owns – home, cars, savings, stocks and bonds, real estate, etc. less what one owes.
Used for big purchases, pay for college, buy a business, or tapped when income runs dry.
WHY IS WEALTH SO IMPORTANT?
Gives choices Can take time off to go to school Can start a business Research shows wealth vs. academic
gap… (look up Conley stats)
WHERE DOES WEALTH COME FROM?
Savings, home purchases, and other investments made with a family’s surplus income.
Intergenerational support such as gifts, informal loans, and inheritances.
INCOME CAN ONLY PARTIALLY EXPLAIN GAP
RANKING THE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS
Parents’ Net Worth is the single most important factor by far.
Ones’ own income is the second most important factor.
Other notable factors include: single-parent vs. two-parent families “Occupational prestige (professional jobs
that have IRAs, profit sharing, etc.)”
INHERITING YESTERDAY’S INEQUALITY
Some white families historically have enjoyed the benefits of government support and tax policies to buy homes, start businesses, grow wealth and prepare for retirement at a time that Blacks and others were largely excluded.
Looking at one important historical example, few if any African-Americans were able to take advantage of the Homestead Acts that provided landowning opportunities for many whites. Recent history continued this pattern of blocked opportunity because African-Americans were mostly shut out of the greatest wealth-building opportunity of the post-World War II generation -- home ownership.
INHERITING INEQUALITY (SEDIMENTATION)
Unlike income, wealth is readily transferrable from generation to generation.
40 acres and a mule never happened. Yesterday’s inequalities are simply carried forward.
Reparations never given… previous inequalities simply carried forward
INHERITING INEQUALY (PART 2)
Land ownership restricted to citizens and citizenship was limited to whites 1800S
The last racial barriers to naturalized citizenship were lifted in 1952. One in four white Americans have an ancestor who was given Indian or Mexican
land under the Homestead Act.
New Deal excluded many people of color from Social Security
All veterans of color were unable to access the GI Bill's educational and mortgage benefits
Discrimination by realtors and colleges made the benefits difficult for vets of color to use
VA and FHA lending rules actually blocked mortgages in mixed-race and urban neighborhoods.
WEALTH DIFFERENCES ARE KEY
Percent of population by race that does not have enough net worth to subsist for three months at the poverty level without income.
42 percent of Blacks 37 percent of Latinos 16 percent of Whites
WWW.FAIRECONOMY.ORG/DREAMTo learn more, visit
RESOURCES
In 2042, thirty years from now, people of color will collectively represent the majority of the U.S. population. If we continue along the
governing path of the last thirty years, the economic divide between races will remain and, in many regards, will be considerably worse.
The Emerging Majority measures the impacts of the past thirty years of public policy on the racial divide, examining a host of social and
economic indicators, including income, wealth, poverty, health care, homeownership, education and incarceration.
The report then offers thirty-year projections based on data trends since the Reagan presidency. Its findings should prompt people of all races to unite in action for a more just and racially equitable future.
http://www.faireconomy.org/dream
http://www.insightcced.org
Center for American Progress:The State of Communities of Color in the U.S. Economy: Christian E. Weller, Julie Ajinkya, and Jane Farrell explain how communities of color
were hit particularly hard by the Great Recession in 2007 and how they're still struggling as the economy recovers.
From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half
More than a Choice: A Progressive Vision for Reproductive Health and Rights
Women’s Institute for Housing and Economic Development
http://www.wihed.org/
Institute for Women’s Policy Research - The leading think tank in the U.S. focusing primarily on domestic women’s issues
with key program areas: Employment, Education Economic Change, Democracy & Society, Poverty, Welfare, & Income Security,
Work & Family, and Health & Safety. www.iwpr.org
How The American Economy Is Leaving Women Behind: Setting A New Course For http://www.uswcc.org/news/ViewNews.aspx?newsId=1 Progress And Prosperity
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IWPR created femstats.net as a primary resource for easily downloadable women-centered data.
Transforming Pink to Green: Moving Jobs into the Green Economy http://greenways.jff.org