National NAACP Convention Economic Opportunity in Your Community Roger A. Clay, Jr. President Insight Center for Community Economic Development July 9, 2012
Mar 27, 2015
National NAACP Convention
Economic Opportunity in Your Community
Roger A. Clay, Jr.
President
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
July 9, 2012
About the Insight Center
Our Mission:
To help people and communities become, and
remain, economically secure
Guiding Concepts:
Economic equity and Inclusion
Income and Assets
Principal areas of Our Work
Income:
Allows people to become economically secure
Assets:
Allows people to remain economically secure
andPass on the benefits to the next generation
Key to Economic Security
Building Wealth
Wealth determines where you live,
where you go to school, and what kind of
jobs you get
Racial Wealth Gap
White Americans have 22 times more wealth than blacks —a gap that nearly doubled during the recession
Communities of color
lost 60% of their
wealth between 2005
and 2010
$95,000
$20,000
The Racial Wealth Gap was Widening Before the Recession
High-Income Whites
Middle-Income Whites
Middle-Income Blacks
High-Income Blacks
Income is only part of the picture
Education matters, but alone cannot close the gap
• In 1994, Black mothers with a Bachelor’s degree or higher had 64 cents for every similar white mother’s dollar.
• By 2007, they had 13 cents.
• The wealth gap among the most educated mothers grew fivefold between 1994 and 2007 to $128,000.
Significant job loss:
Declining income:
Loss of homeownership:
The Recession hit blacks hard
From 2007 to 2009, incomes fell 7.1% for
blacks, faster than any group
From 2009 to 2011, black minimum wage
workers grew by nearly 17%, higher than any
group
Nearly half of blacks who lost their jobs have
been out of work for longer than 6 months
By the end of 2011, 45.1% owned their homes,
down from 47.7% at the beginning of the
recessionThe State of Communities of Color in the U.S. Economy Still Feeling the Pain Three Years Into the Recovery. Center for American Progress,2012.
Before the recession, from 2005 to 2007, black households with zero wealth or debt grew from 35% to 39%
For one-half of all black families with children under age 18, debt has become a the new norm, even for those with the highest levels of education
Child support debt makes it impossible for low-income, noncustodial fathers to build wealth
Debt has become the modern day shackle
The Importance of Closing the Racial Wealth Gap
The racial wealth gap hurts the nation as a whole. Reducing inequality is the best way of improving the social
environment and quality of life for all Americans.
The task of responding to a demographic shift in which the majority of Americans will no longer be white becomes especially urgent. Majority of young children are already people of color
Our nation cannot afford to squander its most precious resource in an increasingly competitive global economy: its people. Without wealth, individual, family, and community capacity cannot
be unleashed.
Economic inequality undermines an effective democracy Wealth inequality leads to power inequality
Opportunities
Occupy Movement
Employment Challenges
Changing Demographics
Insight Center for Community Economic Development
www.insightcced.org