New data highlights a troubling trend in New Jersey: The racial wealth gap between white residents and Black and Latino residents has doubled since before the pandemic, from roughly $300,000 to more than $600,000.
The New Jersey Institute for Social Justice released the report titled The Two New Jerseys: A Deepening Divide revealing staggering racial disparities in terms of wealth, homeownership, income and health insurance. Researchers contended the statistics are especially stunning given that New Jersey is one of the wealthiest states in the country, but they argued the wealth isn’t being shared equally.
“We found that white households at the median here in New Jersey have about $640,000 compared to about a little less than $20,000 for Black and Latino families,” said Laura Sullivan, director of the Economic Justice Program at the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice. “In addition to that, there’s persistent disparities in the things that contribute to wealth, such as homeownership and retirement accounts.”
“We find that about three-quarters or a little over 75% of white families in New Jersey own their homes, compared to about 40% of Black and Latino families,” said Sullivan. “And retirement, the second largest savings for most families, we see additional disparities, with Black and Latino families having substantially fewer retirement savings from employment than their white peers.”
The institute has supported policies that back “baby bond” initiatives, national programs that give a wealth endowment to low-wealth families, and the New Jersey Reparations Council.
“We have a long history of policies that have supported wealth building for white families, and unfortunately, families of color have not had access to those same benefits,” Sullivan said.
