By Karen Stokes
Since before the pandemic, Black Americans have seen an improvement in a host of financial indicators including the unemployment rate, evictions, wages, and wealth. The Black-white wealth gap has narrowed, and rates of business ownership have increased.
“When the Administration started, during a global pandemic that had a disproportionate impact on the Black community, high unemployment and low economic output was forecasted. But instead, President Biden took historic steps to dig our economy out of a deep hole starting with the American Rescue Plan followed by his Invest in America agenda that is growing our economy,” said Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo.
These signs are promising and set the stage for more improvements to come.
Data shows:
Unemployment Rate: The unemployment rate for Black Americans came down to its lowest level in history in 2023 and remains near record lows (5.3 percent in Jan. ’24)
Labor Force Participation: Prime-aged Black women have seen their labor force participation rates climb by about 1.5 percent. This is the highest that it has been for two decades.
Eviction: In 2021, eviction filings in Black neighborhoods were less than half their historic average as the Administration implemented a federal eviction moratorium and provided support through the Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program.
Wealth: Median Black family wealth (adjusted for inflation) increased by 60 percent from 2019 to 2022. This is a larger increase than experienced by white families over the same time period, and in stark contrast to the experience of Black families during previous recessions and recoveries.
Wealth Gap: The wealth gap between Black and White households remains very large, but progress was made: the ratio of median Black wealth to median White wealth increased by 3 percentage points between 2019 to 2022, from 13 percent to 16 percent.
Wages: Real earnings for the median Black worker grew 7 percent from the fourth quarter of 2019 to the fourth quarter of 2023—much faster than the growth for the median worker overall.
Homeownership: Black homeownership rates increased by 3.6 percentage points from 2019 to 2023. In the years of the Financial Crisis, from 2007 to 2010, Black homeownership had dropped 1.8 percentage points.
Poverty: On the back of the recovery programs, the supplemental Black child poverty rate was cut in half from near 20 percent in 2019 to 8 percent in 2021, though it rose to almost 18 percent in 2022 following the expiration of the Advanced Child Tax Credit.
Business Ownership: Black business ownership skyrocketed in the recession and recovery up 6.2 percentage points from 2019 to 2022 to 11 percent, the highest rate in history. In 2022, Black-owned companies employed 1.4 million people and paid over $50 billion in annual payroll.
Entrepreneurship: The number of Black workers that were self-employed increased by almost 30 percent from 2019 to 2023.
ECIP: Through the Emergency Capital Investment Program (ECIP), the Treasury has invested $1.4 billion in Black-owned and Black-majority shareholder deposit institutions. Its projected that investments across the entire ECIP portfolio may increase lending in Black communities up to nearly $80 billion over the next decade.
SSBCI: SSBCI is designed to reach underserved communities and underserved businesses, including Black-owned businesses. The program provides nearly $10 billion to increase access to capital and promote entrepreneurship.
Procurement: The Biden-Harris administration has set a goal to increase the federal government’s contracts with minority-owned and small and disadvantaged business to 15 percent by 2025.
“These are just examples of a much longer list,” said Laura Feiveson, Deputy Assistant Secretary
Concerning kitchen table issues, Feiveson said, “Inflation has come down a lot and the level of prices for eggs has come down from where they were before. Because inflation has come down doesn’t mean the prices have come down all over the grocery store and it’s a strain on many households. This is not just a U.S. issue, it’s an issue worldwide. We are doing what we can to address it.”