THAT African Americans are poorer than the American average is well-established. In 2016, the median household income of black Americans was $39,500 compared to $65,000 for non-Hispanic white Americans. Lower parental income and education levels are often cited as reasons for this gap. But a new paper suggests that there is more to it than that. It finds that black men fare worse economically than white men even if they are raised in households with similar incomes and educated similarly. A black boy brought up in a wealthy family is as likely to become poor in adulthood as he is to remain prosperous.
The study, by Raj Chetty at NBER, Maggie Jones at the Census Bureau and two colleagues is notable for its size and sweep: it involves 20m people born between 1978 and 1983–about 94% of all of those born over that period now resident in America. The authors use a range of data on child, parental and neighborhood characteristics to look at the impact of race on economic mobility over a generation.
It finds that a black man born to...Continue reading
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