Wealth Gap Between Whites and Minorities Is Growing, Pew Says

An unequal economic recovery has helped create the largest wealth gap between minorities and whites in more than a decade, a new report found.

The gap has grown, as white Americans — who are more likely to own stocks — rode surging financial markets to greater wealth, the Pew Research Center said Friday.

Meanwhile, minorities, hit harder by the housing crash, saw their wealth decline between 2010 and 2013.

The median wealth of white households was 13 times that of black households in 2013, Pew said, using data from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances. That is the largest gap since 1989 and compares to a gap of eight times in 2010.

White households had 10 times the wealth of Latinos, the widest margin since 2001.

The median wealth of black households fell nearly 34 percent from 2010, reaching $11,000 last year. Latino household wealth dropped 14.3 percent to $13,700.

White households saw a gain. Their median wealth rose 2.4 percent to $141,900.

The homeownership rate for whites fell from 75.3 percent in 2010 to 73.9 percent in 2013. For minorities, it dropped from 50.6 percent to 47.4 percent.

This article appeared in print in the December 15th, 2014 edition of Hamodia.