From the Washington Post:
African Americans were worse off financially in 2016 than
they were in 2000.
The median income for an African American household was
$39,490 last year, according to U.S. Census Bureau data released
this week. It was $41,363 in 2000. (Both figures are in 2016 dollars, so they
have been adjusted for inflation).
African Americans are the only racial group the
Census Bureau identifies that has been left behind. White, Asian
and Hispanic households have all seen at least modest income gains since 2000.
The uptick in incomes for so many Americans helped lift the overall median U.S. household income to $59,039 last year, the highest level ever recorded by the Census Bureau. That figure surpassed the previous record set in 1999, during the last period of strong economic growth. Median household income means half of U.S. households earn more and half earn less. It's an important indicator of the health of the middle class.
But the overall trend masks the fact that African Americans,
as a group, have not recovered.
Health Care an Issue
To make matters worse, Census data found that African
Americans are also more likely to lack health insurance. The uninsured
rate for the nation overall was 8.8 percent, an all-time low. But it was 10.5
percent for African Americans.
Even with College
Even when African Americans attend college and actively work
to expand their skills and networks, they still earn far less than whites with
similar educational background. In fact, the wage gap has expanded the most
between college educated blacks and whites.
Take Aways
“Wage gaps are growing primarily because of discrimination,”
said Williams Rodgers, chief economist at the Heldrich Center for
Workforce Development at Rutgers University, who has spent years looking at
data and trends on this subject.
The small silver lining in the latest census data is that
African American incomes grew nearly 6 percent last year, the most of any
racial group, but it's not moving quickly enough to do much to close the
vast income gap between African Americans and other groups.