Congresswoman Beatty Leads Congressional Efforts to Address the Racial and Gender Wealth Gaps

Statement

Yesterday, the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion, chaired by U.S. Congresswoman Joyce Beatty (OH-03), held a hearing to examine the state of the racial and gender wealth divide in America and to explore policy solutions to improve wealth building opportunities for women and minority Americans.

"This hearing is centered around a critical mission of the Subcommittee," Beatty said. "The racial and gender wealth gap is real, unacceptable, and much larger than people think." Beatty continued, "For working families, the most powerful wealth building tools are homeownership and retirement savings, and we are here today to discuss solutions to close the racial and gender wealth gaps by improving opportunities to responsible homeownership, retirement savings accounts, and a whole host of other financial products.

According to a 2019 McKinsey study, the overall racial wealth gap between Black and White families widened from about $100,000 in 1992 to $154,000 in 2016. In addition, researchers at the Center for Global Policy Solutions suggested that even in the recovery period after the housing crisis, African-Americans (45 percent), Asians (48 percent), and Latinos (58 percent) lost almost half of their wealth compared to a 21 percent loss among their White counterparts. Moreover, although wealth generally increases with income, women at every income level have less wealth than men based on a 2015 review of women and wealth.

The expert witness panel at the hearing included: Kilolo Kijakazi, Director, Institute Fellow, Urban Institute; Dedrick Asante-Muhammad, Chief of Race, Wealth and Community, National Community Reinvestment Coalition; Mariko Chang, researcher, author, and President, Mariko Chang Consulting, Inc.; Sally Krawcheck, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ellevest; and Lisa Cook, Professor of Economics, Michigan State University.

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