Sec. 2. Findings
441 words·~2 min read·
/bill/118/hr/10289/ih/section-2A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.
Congress finds the following: Wealth inequality is steadily rising in the United States, and, as the disparities between the richest Americans and the poorest Americans widen, White Americans have grown disproportionately wealthier, while the median wealth of Black Americans has stagnated. In 1968, and with the amounts adjusted for inflation, the median middle-class Black household had $6,674 in wealth, while the median middle-class White household had $70,786 in wealth, and in 2016, the median middle-class Black household had $13,024 in wealth compared to $149,703 for the median White household.
As of 2019, the typical White family has 8 times the wealth of the typical Black family and 5 times the wealth of the typical Hispanic family. As of 2019, White families have the highest level of both median and mean family wealth at $188,200 and $983,400, respectively. Black and Hispanic families have considerably less wealth than White families. Black families’ median and mean wealth is less than 15 percent that of White families, at $24,100 and $142,500, respectively. Hispanic families’ median and mean wealth is $36,100 and $165,500, respectively.
In 2023, the median annual income for households led by Asian-Americans was $112,200, compared with $89,050 for non-Hispanic White-led households, $56,490 for Black-led households, and $65,540 for Hispanic-led households. As of the second quarter of 2024, the median usual weekly earnings for full-time wage and salary workers for White workers were roughly 24 percent more than for Black workers and roughly 29 percent more than for Hispanic workers. As of the second quarter of 2024, women earned roughly 81 cents for every dollar paid to men, as measured by median usual weekly earnings for full time wage and salary workers, and for every dollar paid to White men, Black women earned roughly 71 cents, and Hispanic women earned roughly 65 cents.
Different groups within the Asian American and Pacific Islander community have unique experiences with economic discrimination. For example, between 2015 and 2019, Hmong women earned 60 cents for every dollar paid to White men. Disparities in wealth between genders are even more stark. As of 2022, the median net worth for female-led households was $58,080, whereas male-led households had a median net worth of $82,200, and a study from 2013 showed that single Black women and single Hispanic women had a median wealth averaging less than a penny for every dollar of wealth owned by single White non-Hispanic men.
Informed and well-designed policies are needed to curb the growing inequality between Americans of different races and income levels, and in order to meet this need, Congress needs access to standardized, reliable information about the socioeconomic consequences of the legislation it enacts.