Title: Demographic trends and economic well-being | Pew Research Center
Headings: 1. Demographic trends and economic well-being
1. Demographic trends and economic well-being
Blacks still trail whites in college completion
Black-white income gap remains large
Blacks more than twice as likely as whites to be poor
A growing wealth gap between blacks and whites
Blacks significantly less likely than whites to be homeowners
Blacks twice as likely as whites to be unemployed
Non-marital births more than twice as common among blacks as whites
Just over half of black children live with a single parent
Marriage rate decline particularly steep among blacks
Facts are more important than ever

Content: Similar racial disparities across educational levels occur across measures of social well-being and family structure. For example, about nine-in-ten (92%) white women with a bachelor’s degree who recently gave birth were married, a proportion that drops to 60% among new black mothers with a similar level of education. Taken together, these findings suggest that educational differences alone cannot fully explain the black-white gaps in economic outcomes or family structure. The remainder of this chapter explores major differences in social and economic well-being across racial and ethnic groups, with particular focus on the persistence in the disparities between blacks and whites in recent decades. The first section examines in greater depth racial differences in educational attainment. Later sections explore various economic outcomes, including measures of family income, wealth and homeownership, poverty and unemployment. The chapter concludes with sections on racial differences in family structure, including non-marital birth rates, child living arrangements and marriage rates. Blacks still trail whites in college completion
Increasingly, a college degree is the key to financial well-being, while the value of a high school diploma has diminished markedly over time. Since the 1960s, rates of college graduation have increased significantly for all major racial and ethnic groups, though large gaps persist. 6 Whites are far more likely to hold a bachelor’s degree than blacks.