The Great Recession was hard on all American families. But even as the economic recovery has begun to mend asset prices, not all households have benefited alike, and wealth inequality has widened along racial and ethnic lines.
The median wealth of white households was 13 times the wealth of black households and 10 times that of Hispanic households in 2013, compared with eight and nine times the wealth in 2010, respectively.
| Racial, Ethnic Wealth Gaps Since Great Recession (Median HH Net Worth in $xThousands; 2013$) | |||
| Group |
1983 |
2007 |
2013 |
| White |
$100.0 |
$192.5 |
$141.9 |
| Black |
10.0 |
19.2 |
11.0 |
| Hispanic |
10.0 |
23.6 |
13.7 |
| Source: PEW Research Center, January 2015 | |||
The earnings gap between young adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher and those without has never been greater in the modern era, despite soaring student debt and high youth unemployment.
In 1979, when the first wave of Baby Boomers were the same age that Millennials are today, the typical high school graduate earned about three-quarters (77%) of what a college graduate made.
Today, Millennials with only a high school diploma earn 62% of what the typical college graduate earns.
| Median Annual Earnings Among Full Time Workers Age 25 to 32 ($ in Thousands; 2012 Dollars) | ||||
|
Annual Earnings |
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| Age Cohort | Measured In | Bachelor’s Degree | 2 Year Degree College | High School Grad |
| Silents |
1965 |
$38.8 |
$33.7 |
28.0 |
| Early Boomers |
1979 |
42.0 |
36.5 |
32.3 |
| Late Boomers |
1986 |
44.8 |
34.6 |
30.5 |
| Gen Xers |
1995 |
43.7 |
32.2 |
27.9 |
| Millennials |
2013 |
45.5 |
30.0 |
28.0 |
| Source: PEW Research Center, January 2015 | ||||