Growing Racial Wealth Gap Threatens Middle Class
A new report from Prosperity Now (formerly CFED) and the Institute for Policy Studies finds that Black and Latino households are losing wealth at an accelerating pace, threatening the viability of the American middle class. The Road to Zero Wealth: How the Racial Wealth Divide is Hollowing Out America’s Middle Class finds that if the racial wealth divide is not addressed and is not exacerbated by harmful policies, median Black household wealth will hit zero by 2053, while median White household wealth will climb to $137,000. The authors argue that with households of color projected to reach majority status in the U.S. by 2043, the accelerating racial wealth gap could hollow out the middle class and take a toll on the broader economy.