Researchers from the Urban Institute’s
Black Family Thriving Initiative spoke with people in the Black middle class, as well as experts on the racial wealth gap, housing, employment, and other areas, to gain insights on how to accurately conceptualize the Black middle class and the opportunities and barriers they face for upward mobility.
For many Americans, becoming part of the middle class is marked by the comfort in knowing they have enough savings for emergencies and retirement, as well as the means to transfer wealth to future generations. Unfortunately, many Black Americans are less likely to have a will than white Americans, and most don’t have access to large sums of savings and retirement benefits.
Hear their stories and read our analysis to learn more about how people in the Black middle class retain their status and what causes them to fall out of the middle class.
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