Explain the economic inequality among ethnic groups in the USA.
What are the trends and patterns that prove there is economic inequality among the different ethnicities in the U.S.
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“Funny, isn’t it? We middle-class people secretly want that the poor should remain poor, as poverty is a necessary condition for an easy supply of servants,” is a famous quote by Abhaidev. According to Bapuji et al. (2020), “Economic inequality has become an issue of public concern, particularly since the 2008 global financial crisis” (p.4). According to Dickman et al. (2017), “attention to economic inequality intensified after the Occupy Wall Street movement decried the rising wealth and power of the richest 1%; This movement popularized research by the economists Piketty and Saez5 that revealed levels of income inequality unrivaled since the stock market bubble of the 1920s” (p.1). Bapuji et al. (2020) also stated that “The Occupy Wall Street protests not only highlighted the growing economic inequalities, but they also etched on the public psyche the notion that the economic system is skewed in favor of the top one percent of the population” (p.4). “These protests also underscored the role of corporations in creating and maintaining the economic divide, such as by drawing attention to the growing salaries of CEOs and other top executives of public corporations” (Bapuji et al., 2020, p.4). “S tudies by non-governmental organizations and academics corroborate the magnitude and rise of inequality for example, the wealth owned by 26 wealthiest people is equal to the wealth owned by 3.8 billion people, i.e., the bottom 50% of the world” (Bapuji et al., 2020, p.4). “The i ncome shares of the top 10% has risen globally during 1980-2016, during which period the top 1% captured 27% of the total growth in real incomes, which is more than double the 12% of the growth that went to the bottom 50%” (Bapuji et al., 2020, p.4). Dickman et al. (2017) also stated that “The share of to tal income going to the top 1% of earners has more than doubled since 1970, while most workers in the USA have experienced slow income growth (p.1). “As m easured by the Gini coefficient, a standard metric of income inequality, the USA is now more unequal than all but three other countries (Chile, Mexico, and Turkey) in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the most equal countries are Denmark, Slovenia, Norway, and Slovakia” (Dickman et al., 2017, p.1). “The focus on g rowing inequalities in income and wealth has also renewed attention to demographic inequalities, such as gender and racial inequalities that were long a concern for society” (Bapuji et al., 2020, p.4). There is economic inequality among the different ethnicities in the United States, and there are trends and patterns that prove this.
Economic inequality among the different ethnic groups in the USA is still prevalent in the society. “W ealth inequality between racial and ethnic groups in the USA is especially striking, and is several times greater than income inequality” (Dickman et al., 2017, p.1). “In 2013, median f amily wealth for the non-Hispanic white population was ten times that of Hispanics and more than 12 times that of African-Americans” (Dickman et al., 2017, p.1). “The racial wealth gap results from historical factors dating back to slavery, many of which persist, including legalized racial segregation in the pre-civil rights era, pervasive job and housing discrimination, exclusionary city zoning laws, unequal education, and inheritance laws that perpetuate past inequalities” (Dickman et al., 2017, p.1). “Although top incomes have risen, so has extreme poverty. More than 1·6 million households in the USA, including 3·5 million children, survive on incomes of less than $2 per person per day—WHO’s definition of extreme poverty; this number has more than doubled since the 1990s” (Dickman et al., 2017, p.1). According to Dickman et al. (2017) “The surge in top incomes has magnified inequality in wealth (ie, assets). Since 1986, the top 0·1% of households (those with assets exceeding US$20 million) has accumulated nearly half of all new wealth, and now controls as much wealth as the bottom 90%, whose share has fallen steadily” (p.1). According to Bhutta et al. (2020), “Between 2016 and 2019, median wealth rose for all race and ethnicity groups” (p.1). Bhutta et al. (2020) also stated that “Growth rates for the 2016–19 period was faster for Black and Hispanic families, rising 33 and 65 percent, respectively, compared to White families, whose wealth rose 3 percent, and other families, whose wealth rose 8 percent” (p.1). “T hat said, the faster growth in wealth for Black and Hispanic families only resulted in modest changes in the gaps in wealth between these families and White families” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “The W hite-Black gap in median wealth was little changed, from $163,700 in 2016 to $164,100 in 2019, and the White-Hispanic gap fell modestly from $160,000 in 2016 to $152,100 in 2019” (Bhutta et al., 2020 p.1). Thus, economic inequality among the different ethnic groups in the USA is still prevalent, and the racial wealth gap results from historical factors dating back to slavery.
There are t rends and patterns that prove that economic inequality among the different ethnic groups in the USA is still prevalent in the society. According to Bhutta et al. (2020), “The patterns for the 2016-2019 period follow variation across groups in experiences in the Great Recession (2007 to 2010), the immediate aftermath (2010 to 2013), and the continued economic expansion (2013-2019)” (p.1). “Median wealth fell about 30 percent for all groups during the Great Recession” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “However, Black and Hispanic families’ wealth c ontinued to fall an additional 20 percent from 2010 to 2013, while White families’ wealth was essentially unchanged, and other families’ wealth fell a more modest 10 percent and after 2013, median wealth rose for all groups, with faster growth for Black, Hispanic, and other families” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “Despite growth over the last two s urveys, the typical White family and the typical Black family have yet to recover to their pre-Great Recession levels of wealth and over the entire 2007-2019 period, wealth fell by 11 percent for the typical White family and by 7 percent for the typical Black family” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “O nly the typical Hispanic family has seen an increase in wealth relative to before the Great Recession, rising by about 39 percent, while the typical other family’s wealth is about unchanged since before the Great Recession” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “The types and number of families that make up each race or ethnicity group change over time as the underlying population of US families changes and among other factors, population aging, changes to immigration flows, and the evolution of self-identification patterns alter the composition of each race or ethnicity group between surveys” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “For example, in the 2016 survey, the other or multiple race group was composed of 50 percent reporting more than one racial identification and 30 percent reporting Asian, whereas in 2019, these figures changed to 69 percent and 23 percent, respectively” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). “Therefore, appropriately interpreting changes in a group’s wealth, especially over longer time periods, requires acknowledging compositional shifts within each group; the robust growth in Hispanic wealth over the last two surveys and the marked slowdown of growth for other families in 2019 are at least partially attributable to compositional shifts in the types of families that make up these groups” (Bhutta et al., 2020, p.1). Thus, there are trends and patterns that prove that economic inequality among the different ethnic groups in the USA is still prevalent in the society.
In conclusion, there is economic inequality within the different ethnicities in the U.S. The economic disparity is mainly caused by systematic racism which puts barriers for the other race to advance their economic status. There are trends and patterns that prove that economic inequality among the different ethnic groups in the USA is still prevalent in the society. The American government should invest in providing opportunities like education, and employment for the minority ethnic groups which will in turn improve their economic status. By achieving economic equality, the country’s economy will also improve.
Bapuji, H., Ertug, G., & Shaw, J. D. (2020). Organizations and societal economic inequality: A review and way forward. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), 60-91.
Bhutta, N., Chang, A. C., & Dettling, L. J. (2020). Disparities in wealth by race and ethnicity in the 2019 survey of consumer finances.
Dickman, S. L., Himmelstein, D. U., & Woolhandler, S. (2017). Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. The Lancet, 389(10077), 1431-1441.