Wealth Gap Widens Between Whites & Hispanics.

A new study from the Pew Hispanic Center finds that the wealth gap between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White households has increased in the recent past. And the gap in wealth is far greater than the gap in income.

According to the study, the median net worth of Hispanic households in 2002 was $7,932. This was only nine percent of $88,651, the median wealth of non-Hispanic White households at the same time. The net worth of Non-Hispanic Blacks was only $5,988. Thus, the wealth of Latino and Black households is less than one-tenth the wealth of White households even though Census data show their income is two-thirds again as high.

The economic situation grew worse during the latest recession. A Pew Hispanic Center analysis of data from the Census Bureau finds that the 2001 recession and the jobless recovery that followed were much harder on the net worth of minority households. Between 1999 and 2001, the net worth of Hispanic and non-Hispanic Black households fell by 27 percent each while the net worth of non-Hispanic White households increased by 2 percent.

There are many reasons for the growing gap, according to the study that focuses on the net worth of Hispanic households in the 1996 to 2002 time period. Minorities, for example, have more limited access to financial markets and face greater barriers to homeownership. The ownership of a home bears a strong relationship with the net worth of a household. Homeowners own more of other assets and have a huge advantage in net worth over renters and other households. Hispanic homeowners, in fact, have a net worth that is half again as high as the wealth of non-Hispanic homeowners. But non-Hispanic
households are much more likely to own homes and that creates an even bigger gulf in wealth across the two groups.

To view report CLICK below (Adobe Acrobat Reader required):

http://www.pewhispanic.org/site/docs/pdf/The%20Wealth%20of%20Hispanic%20Households.pdf