Cambridge Business Association
Recent Trends in Wealth-Holding by Race and Ethnicity
Report

Recent Trends in Wealth-Holding by Race and Ethnicity

Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances

Lisa J. Dettling, Joanne W. Hsu, Lindsay Jacobs, Kevin B. Moore, Jeffrey P. Thompson and Elizabeth Llanes
Federal Reserve Board, 2019
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7

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Recommendation

The economic recovery from the Great Recession has been steady but unspectacular. Yet despite growth at well below historical GDP norms, stakeholders across the US demographic spectrum all experienced wealth gains from 2013–2016. Federal Reserve professionals assess recent data to determine the scale and scope of prosperity relative to race and ethnicity, and they find that, despite upward momentum for all groups, long-term absolute levels of net worth remain largely unchanged. getAbstract recommends this data-based, authoritative analysis to anyone interested in the socioeconomics of wealth in the United States.

Summary

The Great Recession left Americans of all income levels with depleted resources. However, new data from the Survey of Consumer Finances detail a sweeping uptick in net worth during the subsequent recovery for families of all categorized races and ethnicities: “white, black, Hispanic and other,” which includes Asians and American Indians, among others. The financial crisis pushed median net worth down by roughly 30% for all groups, but from 2013 to 2016, the increases ranged from 17% for whites to between 30% and 50% for nonwhites. 

Yet despite gains over the...

About the Authors

Lisa J. Dettling et al. are economists with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

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