Men of Color (African Americans, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian Americans, Hispanic Latino, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander) face many challenges in achieving and maintaining good health. Their social circumstances-frequently including limited education and scarce employment opportunities-and cultural norms, as well as society's discriminatory treatment of them, often engender in these men unhealthful responses. In addition, our nation's health care safety net has gaping holes when it comes to low-income men, many of whom are men of color. This report describes the recommendations to ameliorate their health status.

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The Old Age, Survivors, and Disability (OASDI) program of the Social Security Administration helps meet the needs of persons who have retired (Old Age), dependents of persons who are deceased (Survivors), and persons who have become disabled, as well as their dependents (Disability). Although the Social Security system consists of these three components, when system reforms are discussed, the emphasis primarily is on retirement benefits. In recent years, however, national attention has been drawn to the SSDI, or disability, program. The number of applicants for SSDI has increased due to an expansion of the classes of disabilities that could qualify an individual for benefits and to the numerous claims being filed by veterans of recent wars, such as the War in Iraq.

This increase in SSDI applications has resulted in lengthy time lags in processing the paperwork before eligible individuals can receive benefits. Enrollment in the SSDI program also has increased dramatically. Over the past two decades, the proportion of individuals between the ages of 25 and 64 who receive SSDI benefits nearly doubled, rising from 2.2 percent in 1985 to 4.1 percent in 2005 (Autor and Duggan 2006).

To be eligible to receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits, a person must (1) have worked in a job covered by Social Security for at least five of the past ten years, and (2) have a medically determinable physical or mental impairment that is expected to result in death or to last for at least a year and that prevents the individual from engaging in substantial gainful activity (Autor and Duggan 2006). The SSDI program provides benefits to a disabled worker, his/her spouse, and his/her children. The amount of monthly benefits is pegged to the amount of taxable earnings of the disabled worker.

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Date Published: July 2007
 

This brief provides an overview of the current homeownership status of African Americans, along with relevant historical detail to place the present in context. Why homeownership has been a cherished part of the American dream, and homeownership sustainability among African Americans both are discussed. Trends in homeownership rates among African Americans and initiatives to increase homeownership also are covered in this brief.

SEE ALSO AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HOMEOWNERSHIP: THE SUBPRIME LENDING EXPERIENCE, 1995 - 2007 - NOVEMBER 2007 - BRIEF #2[CLICK HERE]

Date Published: March 2008
 

This brief provides a primer on subprime lending and how it has affected homeownership among African Americans. Its story begins in the mid-1990s with the increase in subprime lending for home purchases, home improvement, and refinancing. How the primary and secondary markets for subprime loans operate and how African Americans and households belonging to other racial/ethnic subpopulations have been served by them are detailed. This brief concludes with a discussion of principles and recommendations for enhancing the operation of the subprime market to better meet the needs of African Americans and other disproportionately low-income populations.

SEE ALSO AFRICAN AMERICANS AND HOMEOWNERSHIP: SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL, 1940 - 2006 - NOVEMBER 2007 - BRIEF #1[CLICK HERE]

Date Published: March 2008
 

This report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies presents findings from the second year of an initiative to assess what works to enable low-income communities of color to build assets. It highlights predisposing factors and promising practices in 10 states that received low rankings on asset building for low-income people in the 2007-2008 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard. The featured states are: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas. This report not only examines asset building in these 10 states-most with sizable communities of color-but also compares these findings with those for states with high rankings on asset building for low-income people (Delaware, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin). The states with high rankings on asset building-and small communities of color in general-are analyzed separately in the first year project report entitled Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 1: Predisposing Factors and Promising Practices in States Effective at Building Assets for Low-Income Residents (Executive Summary).

Also, see the Fact Sheet "Confronting and Closing the Wealth Gap".

This report by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies presents findings from the first year of an initiative to assess what works to enable low-income communities of color build assets. The executive summary highlights predisposing factors and promising practices in ten states, highly rated in the 2007-2008 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard for asset building among low-income people. The featured states include: Delaware, Hawai'i, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. A companion report Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 2: State Comparisons (Executive Summary) analyzes similar factors and practices in another set of states with large percentages of people of color (Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Texas).

Also, see the Fact Sheet "Confronting and Closing the Wealth Gap".

To provide fuller detail on disparities in child health, the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies undertook an examination of how child health indicators vary by sociodemographic characteristics. Comparisons are made for the health indicators including low birthweight, health status, unmet dental care needs, ADHD/ADD diagnosis, lifetime asthma diagnosis, learning disability diagnosis, and activity limitation. The findings for Hispanic children and white children are provided in this brief.

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African American women share with other women and with African American men characteristics that shape their beneficiary status under the Social Security system, as well as their views of the retirement income program. Like other women, African American women live more years than African American men and thus receive retirement benefits from Social Security for a longer period than their male counterparts. In addition, African American women and women of other racial/ ethnic groups benefit from the progressive formula used to calculate Social Security retirement benefits, which provides lower-wage earners a higher percentage of their earnings relative to higher-wage earners. Women disproportionately benefit from the use of this formula, since they dominate the ranks of low-wage lifetime earners due to frequent employment in temporary and part-time jobs.

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies National Opinion Poll of African American Adults About Social Security and Wealth, conducted in late 2005, found that African American men and African American women also shared many views about the Social Security system. e poll, which included 850 African Americans ages 18 years and older, found that African American men and African American women alike doubt that Social Security will meet all of their financial needs during retirement. Neither group reported substantial personal savings and investments to close the anticipated retirement income gap. us, the retirement years for African Americans may not be golden, but instead may be rife with financial insecurity.

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Publication date: June 2006

Half of African Americans ages 18-25 consider themselves to be well-informed about the Social Security system. When compared to their older counterparts, however, these youngest African American adults have more correct information about the big-picture impacts of the Social Security system than about various details of the system's operations, e.g., age(s) at which one becomes eligible, how Social Security taxes are spent. Perhaps in part because of the large number of years between their current ages and the eligibility age(s) for Social Security, 18- to 25-year-old African Americans are less likely to view as major problems and more likely to view as minor problems known demographic and labor market factors that will impinge upon the system's solvency before their retirement years. These youngest adults also are more supportive than their older counterparts of selected reform proposals that could reduce the amounts that retirees receive in benefits from the Social Security system.

Perhaps most importantly, when compared to older African Americans, these youngest African American adults are simultaneously less likely to believe that Social Security will be their major source of retirement income and less likely to have begun accumulating other forms of retirement savings. ere may be good reasons for this behavior, such as indebtedness from post-secondary education. It does not bode well, however, for the financial security of members of this age cohort during retirement.

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies National Opinion Poll of African American Adults About Social Security and Wealth identified these and other findings. The poll, conducted in late 2005, surveyed 850 African Americans ages 18 and older. is fact sheet features the major findings about African Americans ages 18-25, who constitute 18 percent of the survey sample.

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Publication date: June 2006

Well-publicized and much-discussed potential insolvency of the Social Security Trust Fund concerns African Americans ages 51-64 much more than it does younger African Americans. is may be tied to the fact that many 51- to 64-year-olds have not accumulated adequate personal savings and investments and expect to rely upon Social Security as a major source of retirement income. About one-third (35 percent) of 51- to 64-year-old African Americans expect Social Security to be their major source of retirement income.

However, 51- to 64-year-olds are less likely than younger African American adults to support selected reform proposals that could ensure the future solvency of the Social Security system. For example, about one in every five 51- to 64-year-olds (18 percent) supports partially privatizing the Social Security system, compared to about one-third of 18- to 25-year-olds, 26- to 35-year-olds, and 36- to 50-year-olds. Similarly, only one-quarter (25 percent) of 51- to 64-year-olds support reducing the annual cost-of-living adjustment to Social Security benefits, compared to 48 percent of 18- to 25-year-olds and 39 percent of 26- to 35-year-olds. is lack of support perhaps stems from the fear that these reform proposals will reduce the amount of their Social Security retirement benefits and from the awareness that they have less time than younger adults to accumulate alternate savings and investments to depend on should their Social Security benefits be jeopardized.

Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies National Opinion Poll of African American Adults About Social Security and Wealth identified these and other findings. The poll, conducted in late 2005, surveyed 850 African Americans ages 18 and older. is fact sheet features the major findings about African Americans ages 51-64, who constitute 22 percent of the survey sample.

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Publication date: June 2006