Understanding Latino wealth to address disparities and design better policies

Editor’s note: Language is constantly evolving. Reflecting the fluidity of labels used within the Latino community, the following terms are used across the article, often interchangeably: Hispanic, Latino, and Latinx. By no means is this list exhaustive, and in future pieces we anticipate using additional terms, including Latine.

In the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election, Latino voting behavior will be widely discussed, as Latino voting patterns are remarkably nuanced and vary by region, age, gender, and national origin, among other factors. Candidates, campaign consultants, journalists, and policymakers should expect economic issues to be a top concern for Latinos, as in previous election cycles . In light of this, it is worth examining Latinos’ current economic condition in the United States.

According to the 2019 Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF), significant wealth disparities exist between families of different races and ethnicities, including between white households and Hispanic/Latino households. White families have a median wealth of $188,200, whereas Hispanic families have a median wealth of $36,100. Another way to look at the SCF data is that the average white family has five times the wealth of the average Hispanic family.This data raises important […]

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