A study from the Pew Research Center indicates that black and Hispanic credit union members may have been hurt much more by the current recession than white credit union members.
According to "Wealth Gaps Rise to Record Highs Between Whites, Blacks and Hispanics," median wealth of white households is 20 times that of black households and 18 times that of Hispanic households.
The report analyzed data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation, an economic survey of tens of thousands of households managed by the U.S. Census Bureau.
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The survey indicated that wealth in black and Hispanic households suffered more because those populations were hit more deeply by the collapse in home prices.
The researchers found that from 2005 to 2009, the median level of home equity held by Hispanic homeowners declined by half—from $99,983 to $49,145—while the home ownership rate among Hispanics also fell, from 51% to 47%.
Researchers suggested the fact that more Hispanics live in states most deeply hit by the housing crisis, California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona, as the reason.
Researchers said white and black homeowners also saw the median value of their home equity decline during this period, but not by as much as Hispanics. Among white homeowners, researchers found that home prices moved from $115,364 in 2005 to $95,000 in 2009.
Among black homeowners, home prices moved from $76,910 in 2005 to $59,000 in 2009. There was little or no change during this period in the home ownership rate for whites and blacks; it fell from 47% to 46% among blacks and was unchanged at 74% among whites, the report found.
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