The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies collaborated with the Center on Race and Wealth at Howard University to host a discussion with asset-building coalition leaders from Illinois and Mississippi about the models they have used to develop their state policy agendas. Click here to view the full webinar or here for the webinar slides.

This policy initiative responds to the research conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in a two-part analysis, Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 1 and Asset Building in Low-Income Communities of Color, Part 2, that examined and compared a wide range of policy options in twenty target states, crafted to promote asset-building in low-income communities.

The racial/ethnic wealth gap in this country is both huge and persistent. The ratio between the median net worth of white households and African American households is nearly 7:1, while the white-Hispanic ratio is nearly 5:1 (Bucks, Kennickell, and Moore 2006). Despite increased awareness of these gaps, clear consensus has yet to emerge about the steps needed to narrow them. Some of this lack of consensus relates to a lack of understanding of the causes of this disparity.

This report explores the determinants of wealth and of the racial/ethnic disparities in asset and wealth accumulation. The narrative provides an overview of past research1 that has addressed this issue and highlights the most relevant findings. Its goal is to shed light on the causes of the racial/ethnic wealth gap and to provide answers to the question, “What’s race got to do with it?”

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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".

In this edition:

Promising Practices In Asset Building For Low-Income Communities of Color

Obama and The Burden of Race

A Complete and Accurate Count in The 2010 Census

To identify promising practices in asset building for low-income people, the Joint Center analyzed data for two groups of states - those with high CFED asset-outcome rankings and those with low CFED asset-outcome rankings.