Title: The inheritance of black poverty: It’s all about the men
Headings: The inheritance of black poverty: It’s all about the men
The inheritance of black poverty: It’s all about the men
Black men, stuck in poverty: Chetty’s latest
Black and white Americans, on different starting blocks
Almost half of black youths grew up in the bottom quintile
Share of youths ages 14 to 16 with parents in each income quintile
Gender and race gaps in upward mobility
Black men have low earnings mobility
Share of youths from the bottom quintile who remain in the bottom quintile as adults
Black men and women have low family income mobility
Percentage of youths from the bottom quintile who remain in the bottom quintile of family income as adults
Lower marriage rates aren’t hurting black mobility
Simulating marriage does little to improve mobility for black women
Percentage of youths from the bottom quintile who remain in the bottom quintile of simulated family income
Help black men to help black families

Content: We then estimate the impact of racial differences in marriage rates by simulating higher marriage rates among black women: like Chetty, we find no significant effects. Black and white Americans, on different starting blocks
Black and white children are born into very different economic circumstances. Almost half of black boys and girls are in households in the bottom fifth of the income distribution, compared to just over one in ten white children: Almost half of black youths grew up in the bottom quintile
Share of youths ages 14 to 16 with parents in each income quintile
Black men White men Black women White women 0% 50% 100% 0% 100%
Bottom quintile Second quintile Middle quintile Fourth quintile Top quintile
There are, then, huge race gaps in the chances of being born to or raised in a poor family—gaps that were scarcely lower among children born in the early 1980s than they were among those born in the years around 1960. But what about the chances of escaping poverty as an adult? Gender and race gaps in upward mobility
Using data on 4,200 black and white Americans from the NLSY97, we find that over half (54 percent) of black men born into households in the poorest fifth of the family income distribution end up, as individuals, in the poorest fifth of the earnings distribution for their respective gender, between the ages of 28 and 35, compared to the minority of white men (22 percent), white women (29 percent), and black women (34 percent). Black men have low earnings mobility
Share of youths from the bottom quintile who remain in the bottom quintile as adults
Black men White men Black women White women
0%
20% 40% 60%
80%
0% 80%
In terms of their individual earnings, black women have similar odds of escaping poverty as white women, though both these groups lag behind the upward mobility of white men. These analyses don’t consider the income of other family members, however. What happens when we look instead at adult family income, as opposed to individual earnings?