Family Structure , Race , and Wealth Ownership : A Longitudinal Exploration of Wealth Accumulation Processes

Recent research has demonstrated clear racial inequalities in wealth ownership, but the research is less certain about why these differences exist . Evidence that black wealth ownership, in particular, falls short of white wealth ownership has amassed at an increasing rate. In 1992, while median black income was about 60 percent of median white income, median net worth for blacks was only 8 percent of median net worth for whites. In that same year, 25% of white families had zero or negative assets, but more than 60% of black families had no wealth . Longitudinal estimates suggest that between 1960 and 1995, whites were 1.5 times more likely than blacks to have wealth that exceeded their income and nearly 3 times more likely to experience upward wealth mobility . Minorities are also under-represented among the very wealthy. In 1995, 95% of families in the top 1% of wealth holders had a white head, while only 1% had a black head . Although the wealth position of non-black minorities has received considerably less attention, there is evidence that the wealth accumulation of whites has also exceeded that of Hispanics and Asians .