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US. The Racial Retirement Gap in 7 Facts
Building a financially secure retirement is an uphill climb for many Americans, but it’s especially steep if you are Black.
The savings gap is just the tip of a very large iceberg. Median overall net worth of white households was nearly eight times that of African American households — $189,000 to $24,000 — in 2020, according to Federal Reserve data. These disparities are the product of many others, spanning American economic life — legacies of the inequities that echo and accrue through Black Americans’ working lives.
Black families are also significantly more likely to have very low earnings. The Federal Reserve’s 2021 Survey of Household Economics and Decision-Making found that 43 percent have annual income under $25,000, compared to 20 percent of white families.
