A multitude of reports have shown that the Covid 19 outbreak in 2020, with its subsequent national lockdown, proved economically challenging to families across the country.
But now a new survey published by the Pew Research Center is indicating that the pandemic years were particularly challenging for poorer white families and families of color.
According to the survey, poorer white families had increased debt loads of around $4,700 as of the last month of 2021, while poorer black households had an average indebtedness of $4,000.
Poorer Hispanic families were able to end up even with the number of debts they owed; while poorer Asian families experienced the greatest debt load of the minority groups studied with an average of $8,900.
Racial gaps in wealth, prevalent for decades, remained constant during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021, with white households having nine times as much wealth as of the end of 2021 as did black households.
Similarly, notes a narrative accompanying the Pew survey, white households had “five times as much wealth as Hispanic households in 2021 and three time as much as multiracial households.”
But despite their high rate of indebtedness, “Asian households had more wealth than white households” as of the end of 2021.
Overall, the initial covid years were not all bad for everyone economically: “The pandemic itself helped households boost their savings initially by driving a reduction in consumption.”
Various studies have since shown that all U.S. households saved a total of $2.3 trillion more after the pandemic than was the case in the year before Covid 19. “That is upwards of $15,000, for each household.”
At the same time, all U.S. households, regardless of color or race, “benefited from rising home prices,” which increased from 2019 by around 31% heading into 2022.
The home price increases lessened throughout 2022, with an overall gain of 5.7%. But those price increases, says the narrative, have to also be put in the context of other countervailing trends: “Mortgage rates doubled from 3.1% at the end of 2021 to 6.4% at the end of 2022, and stock prices tumbled 19.4% over the year.”
The Pew Research report was based on statistics collected from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Surveys of Income and Program Participation which consisted of information gathered from more than 17,000 households.
By Garry Boulard
