This can't be true. $5?!!! That's only enough for a subway foot-long sandwich, plus most Black women I know have way more money than me. What kills me about this article is that somebody actually published it. I'm guessing he doesn't work with any Black women, and perhaps the author believes all Black men are on drugs, have AIDS, or in jail. Actually, I'm high right now in my jail cell, drinking an HIV cocktail!
Women of all races bring home less income and own fewer assets, on
average, than men of the same race, but for single black women the
disparities are so overwhelmingly great that even in their prime working
years their median wealth amounts to only $5.
In a groundbreaking report released Monday by a leading economic
research group, social scientists turned a spotlight on the grave
financial challenges facing an often overlooked group of women, many of
whom could not take an unpaid sick day or repair a major appliance
without going into debt.
"It's rather shocking," said Meizhu Lui, director of the Closing the
Gap Initiative based in Oakland, Calif., who contributed to the report
"Lifting as We Climb: Women of Color, Wealth and America's Future."
Among the most startling revelations in the wealth data is that while
single white women in the prime of their working years (ages 36 to 49)
have a median wealth of $42,600 (still only 61 percent of their single
white male counterparts), the median wealth for single black women is
only $5.
"Even for those of us who have been looking at the wealth gap for a
while, we were shocked and amazed at how little women of color have,"
Ms. Lui said.
Researchers at the Insight Center for Community Economic Development,
based in Oakland, Calif., analyzed data from the 2007 Survey of
Consumer Finances, a voluminous report the Federal Reserve Board issues
every three years that examines household finances in this country.
Wealth, or net worth, measures the total of one's assets -- cash in
the bank, stocks, bonds and real estate; minus debts -- home mortgages,
auto loans, credit cards and student loans. The most recent financial
data was collected before the economic downturn, so the current numbers
likely are worse now than at the time of the study.
Black women, in general, were more likely to have participated in the
subprime loan crisis with upper-income black women being five times
more likely to have received a high-cost mortgage than upper-income
white men.
"The popular image is they spend too much, which is the reason they
are running up credit card and consumer debt, but the cost of living has
risen faster than income, and they need to go into debt for basic daily
necessities," Ms. Lui said. "It's compounded because unemployment is
twice as high in the black community than it is in the white community."
For all working-age black women 18 to 64, the financial picture is
bleak. Their median household wealth is only $100. Hispanic women in
that age group have a median wealth of $120.
"That means half of [black women] have a net worth of more than $100
and half have a net worth of less than $100," Ms. Lui said. "So that
gives you an idea of how far in debt some women of color are."
Married or cohabitating white women have a median wealth of $167,500.
Married or cohabitating black women have a median net worth of $31,500.
The reasons behind the daunting financial challenges black women face
are numerous and complex.
"There are excuses and circumstances that have evolved in society,
which put black women where they are," said Esther Bush, executive
director of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh, who said in
Pittsburgh more than 70 percent of African-American families are headed
by single women.
The recession has hit single mothers especially hard.
According to a recent report by the Institute for Women's Policy
Research and the Women and Girls Foundation of Southwest Pennsylvania,
more than four out of 10 families headed by single mothers in Pittsburgh
and more than one in three in Pennsylvania, live in poverty.
In Pittsburgh and across the country, the financial burdens of single
parenthood fall mostly on women, but black women are more likely to
endure the work and responsibility of raising children on their own.
They are more likely to be the backbone of their families and
communities, with greater responsibilities to support struggling friends
and families.
In a 2008 study of black women and their money, the ING Foundation
found that black women -- who frequently manage the assets of their
households -- financially support friends, family and their houses of
worship to a much greater degree than the general population.
They also are more likely to be employed in jobs and industries --
such as service occupations -- with lower pay and less access to health
insurance. And when their working days are done, they rely most heavily
on Social Security because they are less likely to have personal
savings, retirement accounts or company pensions. Their Social Security
benefits are likely to be lower, too, because of their low earnings.
Rather than strictly comparing income, researchers in the Insight
study looked at the wealth gap. The current economic crisis has shown
that a person's wealth affects not only retirement security, but also a
person's ability to handle financial setbacks such as a job loss or a
health emergency.
High unemployment and high incarceration rates for black men also
lower the likelihood of single black women finding a partner to help
build a more secure financial future.
Ms. Lui said the Insight report would be used to encourage the
government to close the wealth gap and improve the outlook for women of
color, just as it did for Americans who received land through the
Homestead Act, and education through the GI bill.
"If wealth was based on hard work, African-Americans would be the
wealthiest people in our nation," she said. "It's not about behavior.
It's about government policies. Who does the government help and who is
it not helping?
"Our government knows how to build wealth for people. They've done it
for others and they can do it for all of us. They need to focus some
attention on women of color. Look at the situation and see what we
need."
Tim Grant:
tgrant@post-gazette.com or
412-263-1591. 
