Economic Insecurity in the Family Tree and the Racial Wealth Gap

Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-022-00076-5

55 Pages Posted: 13 Jun 2019 Last revised: 22 Jun 2022

See all articles by Jermaine Toney

Jermaine Toney

Rutgers University ; Cornell University

Darrick Hamilton

The New School - Department of Economics

Date Written: June 22, 2022

Abstract

Much research documents that middle-income households are facing high prevalence of economic insecurity associated with altruistic transfers to relatives in need. The focus of our examination is across and within generations of the same family tree that have grown up in different public policy regimes. Using panel data on U.S. families, we extend the breadth and depth of the work of Chiteji and Hamilton (2002). We find that, compared to their white counterparts, third-generation, middle-income black families are disproportionately exposed to relatives who face poverty, unemployment, and wealth disparity. Additionally, we find that economic insecurity in the family tree is one of the largest contributors to the black-white wealth gap.

Keywords: stratification economics, wealth, race, middle income, economic insecurity, Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition

JEL Classification: Z13, D31, D64, J15, I3

Suggested Citation

Toney, Jermaine and Hamilton, Darrick, Economic Insecurity in the Family Tree and the Racial Wealth Gap (June 22, 2022). Review of Evolutionary Political Economy (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s43253-022-00076-5, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract= or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3397222

Jermaine Toney (Contact Author)

Rutgers University ( email )

33 Livingston Avenue
New Brunswick, NJ 08901-1982

Cornell University

Warren Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Darrick Hamilton

The New School - Department of Economics ( email )

72 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10003
United States

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