In: Economics
According to the Pew Research center, how did the economic downturn affect different racial groups from 2005 to 2009 in the USA? Also, did the economic downturn affect the overall disparity between rich and poor?
According to Pew Research centre, median household wealth among Hispanics fell from $18,359 in 2005 to $6,325 in 2009 due to the economic downturn. There occurred a 66% drop in wealth among Hispanics and is the largest among all racial and ethnic groups. Median household wealth of black households declined by 53%. Decline in household wealth of white households was 16%. In 2009, typical black household had just $5,677 in wealth; typical Hispanic household had just $6,325 and white household had $113,149. About 35% of black households and 31% of Hispanic households had zero or negative net worth in 2009 compared with 15% of white households. Median household wealth of Asian households dropped by 31% from 2005 to 2009 and the net worth fell by 54% during this period. Hence economic downturn severely affected different ethnic groups. Overall disparity between rich and poor increased during the economic downturn.