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The Great Recession and Racial Inequality: Evidence from Measures of Economic Well-Being

Author

Listed:
  • Thomas Masterson
  • Ajit Zacharias
  • Fernando Rios-Avila
  • Edward N. Wolff

Abstract

The Great Recession had a tremendous impact on low-income Americans, in particular Black and Latino Americans. The losses in terms of employment and earnings are matched only by the losses in terms of real wealth. In many ways, however, these losses are merely a continuation of trends that have been unfolding for more than two decades. We examine the changes in overall economic well-being and inequality, as well as changes in racial economic inequality during and since the Great Recession. We find that the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being inequality between White and Black households decreased during the Great Recession but since 2010, racial inequality in terms of LIMEW has increased. We find that changes in base income, taxes, and income from non-home wealth during the Great Recession produced declines in overall inequality, while only taxes reduced between-group racial inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Masterson & Ajit Zacharias & Fernando Rios-Avila & Edward N. Wolff, 2019. "The Great Recession and Racial Inequality: Evidence from Measures of Economic Well-Being," Journal of Economic Issues, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(4), pages 1048-1069, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:jeciss:v:53:y:2019:i:4:p:1048-1069
    DOI: 10.1080/00213624.2019.1664240
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    Cited by:

    1. Mehmet E. Yaya, 2018. "Great Recession and Income Inequality: a State-level Analysis," Journal of Economics, Race, and Policy, Springer, vol. 1(2), pages 112-125, September.
    2. Serge Atherwood & Gabriela Sánchez-Soto, 2023. "Does Social Class Matter Equally for the Timely Transition Into and Out of College? Evidence from the NLSY97," Research in Higher Education, Springer;Association for Institutional Research, vol. 64(1), pages 95-128, February.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • J15 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Minorities, Races, Indigenous Peoples, and Immigrants; Non-labor Discrimination

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