THURSDAY, AUG. 21, 2014
Gap Between Higher- and Lower-Wealth Households Widens, Census Bureau Reports
Median
net worth increased between 2000 and 2011 for households in the top two
quintiles of the net worth distribution (the wealthiest 40 percent),
while declining for those in the lower three quintiles (the bottom 60
percent), according to new statistics released today by the U.S. Census
Bureau. The result was a widening wealth gap between those at the top
and those in the middle and bottom of the net worth distribution. Each
quintile represents 20 percent, or one-fifth, of all households.
“The
types of assets that households hold may vary,” Census Bureau economist
Alfred Gottschalck said. “Therefore, business cycle changes over time
may affect households differently based on their net worth quintile and
demographic characteristics.”
According to Distribution of Household Wealth in the U.S.: 2000 to 2011 and
associated detailed tables, median household net worth decreased by
$5,124 for households in the first (bottom) net worth quintile and
increased by $61,379 (or 10.8 percent) for those in the highest (top)
quintile (Figure 1).
Median net worth of households in the highest quintile was 39.8 times
higher than the second lowest quintile in 2000, and it rose to 86.8
times higher in 2011. (Figure 2).
The
report also details a widening of the wealth gap for households sharing
the same demographic characteristics, such as age, race and Hispanic
origin, and educational attainment of the householder. For example, the
median net worth for non-Hispanic whites in the highest quintile was
21.8 times higher than for those in the second-lowest quintile in 2000;
in 2011, this had increased to 31.5 times higher. For blacks, the ratio
increased from 139.9 to 328.1, and for Hispanics, the increase was from
158.4 to 220.9.
Between
2000 and 2011, the wealth gap has also widened between groups with
different demographic characteristics. For example, the ratio of median
net worth of non-Hispanic whites to that of blacks rose from 10.6 to
17.5 between 2000 and 2011, and the ratio of non-Hispanic whites to
Hispanics also increased from 8.1 to 14.4.
“However,
when looking at the highest quintile for these groups, we see that
blacks experienced higher relative increases in median net worth than
non-Hispanic whites and Hispanics,” Census Bureau economist Marina
Vornovitsky said.
For
blacks in the highest quintile, median net worth increased by 62.8
percent to $229,041; for Hispanics in the highest quintile, it climbed
by 17.9 percent to $250,462, and for non-Hispanic whites in the highest
quintile, it rose by 11.9 percent to $754,244.
Also released today were tables on the median value of debt and percent holding debt for
households by various characteristics of the householder for 2000,
2002, 2004, 2005, 2009 and 2010. They complement similar tables for 2011
released last year.
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