How Disparities in Benefits Contribute to the Racial Wealth Gap
A new study shows that if access to employer-based benefits were equal, the wealth gap between white and black families would improve
The black construction worker, the Latina home health aide, and the white entry-level data analyst may all work just as hard and take equal pride in their work.
But a new research study from Brandeis University and The Workers Lab, an organization that develops strategies to improve the lives of working people, suggests two of the three may be facing predictably uncertain futures. And, it's not just because of the gaps in their pay.
Not Only Unequal Paychecks: Occupational Segregation, Benefits, and the Racial Wealth Gap links disparities in benefits in the workplace to the racial wealth gap in the U.S. and examines how workers of color and their families are now so far behind that left unaddressed, there is no way for them to catch up.
"This report expands the aperture of what we think working people need," says Carmen Rojas, CEO and co-founder of The Workers Lab. "We're so focused on wages, that we leave on the table one-third of the compensation that comes in the form of benefits, and a whole host of other things that include training and development."
The study looked at five major industries and quickly found that Black and Latinx workers are overrepresented in the lower-paying fields of food service, construction, and health care, while white workers are overrepresented in the higher-paying ones of finance and STEM.
Now, within these fields, wage disparities do exist, the study finds. Workers of color in each of the five industries tended to be paid less than their white peers with similar educational backgrounds.
But the lack of access to the same set of benefits - retirement savings products, healthcare insurance, paid time off and family leave – has proven to have long-term toxic effects for families of color in the U.S., particularly if income levels are used a threshold to keep people from participating in benefit schemes.
Here’s just one stat. According to the study, barriers to pension benefits diminishes the wealth of black and Latinx workers by $5,600 and $9,800 respectively. Employers' denial of health care coverage takes $2,700 in wealth from black workers and $5,400 from Latinx ones.
These barriers add up.
According to a report published by the Institute for Policy Studies, by 2020, the median white family is projected to own 86 times more wealth than its black counterpart, and 68 times more wealth than its Latinx one.
But if all things were truly equal, it would make a meaningful difference.
"Median wealth among Latino employees would increase 71 percent if employer-based health coverage were equalized and would more than double if pension rates were equalized," the researchers say. "For Black workers, median wealth would also go up substantially, increasing 25 percent if employer-based health were equalized and 53 percent if pension rates were equalized."
Of course, there's a history lesson. From the report:
The structures for sharing [post-World War II] prosperity between employees and owners were established in the context of strong unions with benefits beyond the paycheck that protected family savings and provided opportunities for improved well-being and brighter futures. Workplace-based health insurance, paid time off, and retirement plans became a crucible through which working families could protect and create wealth through their jobs. Yet, today and in the post-war period, not all working families were included in work savings and benefit structures--workers of color, women, and those in low-paid jobs are particularly left out. Occupational segregation is a major reason that post-World War II prosperity created in the workplace primarily benefitted Whites. Unfortunately, today even as our workforce grows more diverse, occupational segregation continues to characterize the nation's workplaces.
So, what should be done?
The researchers offer a variety of solutions. (Practitioners, be sure to check out their Racial Wealth Audit framework, too.) But to retain a diverse workforce, larger employers are going to have to understand how current benefit schemes are either insufficient for or unavailable to people of color. Be the advocate, says Rojas. "Advocate for policy changes like expanded paid time off and family leave," she says. And don't forget training and development opportunities that often only screen for "professional track" employees.
Even making sure individuals understand the benefits that are available to them helps. "There's a real need for providers to make worker-friendly products so it isn't a burden for workers to participate."
But the math is pretty clear. For white workers, the ultimate perk is having a future. And that’s not sustainable for anyone.
On Point
[bs-title]Kristen Gillibrand is planning to make the racial wealth gap a campaign issue[/bs-title][bs-content]The presidential hopeful has endorsed a set of policy issues that experts hope will address the racial wealth gap. A draft of the report, "Ten Solutions to Bridge the Racial Wealth Divide," is expected to be released this week, and is a joint effort from the Institute for Policy Studies, the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity, and the National Community Reinvestment Coalition. Buzzfeed got an advance peek. "While it is clearly not the priority of the current presidential administration, or Congress as a whole, to adopt policies to substantially address the racial wealth divide, momentum is building and there is a potential for the political winds to propel us towards a government that will," the report reads.[/bs-content][bs-link link="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/darrensands/kirsten-gillibrand-racial-wealth-gap-proposals" source="Buzzfeed"]
[bs-title]The 2019 Pulitzer Prizes speak to the divides of our time[/bs-title][bs-content]Coverage of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., earned The South Florida Sun-Sentinel the public service prize, and staff of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette won for breaking news coverage of the shooting deaths of 11 worshipers at the Tree of Life synagogue. For local coverage, the staff of The Advocate, in Baton Rouge, La. earned a Pulitzer for its investigation of Louisiana's "split-jury" law that allowed juries to convict defendants without unanimous verdicts, a distinctly racist practice. "White supremacist rule maintains links to a racist past," was the headline that got my attention. Click through for the whole list. As a side note, it's worth noting that Aretha Franklin is the first woman ever to win a Pulitzer special award and citation designated to an individual. Some 41 people and institutions have won citations since 1930.[/bs-content][bs-link link="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/15/business/media/pulitzer-prize-winners.html" source="New York Times"]
[bs-title]Cellist Yo-Yo Ma speaks to the ties that connect us[/bs-title][bs-content]As part of his Bach Project series, the celebrated cellist played a starring role in a "Day of Action" hosted by the sister cities of Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Mexico last Saturday. He performed part of Bach's Suite No. 1 for Unaccompanied Cello in a park next to the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge for onlookers from both communities and beyond. "As you all know, as you did and do and will do, in culture, we build bridges, not walls," he said. After his performance, he gestured to the bridge to his right. "I've lived my life at the borders. Between cultures. Between disciplines. Between musics. Between generations."In 2018, Ma set out on a two-year journey to perform Bach's six suites for solo cello in 36 locations around the world. [/bs-content][bs-link link="https://www.npr.org/2019/04/13/713092703/cellist-yo-yo-ma-plays-bach-in-shadow-of-border-crossing" source="NPR"]
[bs-title]Black and Native American students suspended at a higher rate in Arizona schools[/bs-title][bs-content]According to an analysis by The Arizona Republic, black and Native American students are suspended from school at a higher rate than their white peers. Federal discipline data shows that while 5% of the state's students are black, they accounted for 13% of all out-of-school suspensions for the 2015-2016 school year. And, while 5% of the state's students are Native American, they accounted for 9% of all out-of-school suspensions for the 2015-2016 school year.[/bs-content][bs-link link="https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2019/04/15/nonwhite-students-arizona-suspended-higher-rates-data-shows/3205724002/" source="AZ Central"]
On Background
[bs-title]We do, in fact, shoot the messenger[/bs-title][bs-content] Researchers associated with Harvard Business School and Harvard's Kennedy School of Government conducted a series of experiments to determine the emotional penalties of delivering difficult news or feedback in the workplace. "Our research shows that people are prone to derogating those who tell them things they don't want to hear," they write. It creates a double whammy. When leaders give difficult news, they can be deemed unlikeable. And, "because people are loath to accept advice from those they dislike, recipients may be disinclined to recognize messengers as a resource." While there are ways to mitigate the impact, like framing difficult news with empathetic sentiments, inclusion-oriented folks understand the implications for any leader already operating under a "likeability" deficit of any kind. Sigh.[/bs-content][bs-link link="https://hbr.org/2019/04/research-confirms-when-receiving-bad-news-we-shoot-the-messenger" source="HBR"]
[bs-title]Please sponsor someone you don't feel comfortable with[/bs-title][bs-content]This is the big takeaway from Anne Fisher's latest Fortune column which answers the age-old question: If mentorship and sponsorship is so great, why is it still so white and male at the highest ranks of business? "Only 4.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs, for instance, are women. An almost-invisible 3.8% are nonwhite," she says. The answer is that sponsorship usually takes place between a senior executive and someone who looks like themselves. "In other words, most sponsors look for a Mini-Me," talent expert Sylvia Ann Hewlett tells Fisher. Her answer? Make a damn effort to find someone different from you. "You have to be a bit of a talent scout," she says. "Look at your team members with new eyes, and see what skills and abilities they may have that they're not necessarily using right now."[/bs-content][bs-link link="http://fortune.com/2019/04/16/mentoring-diversity-management/" source="Fortune"]
[bs-title]Local communities are banding together to sue for climate change-related damages[/bs-title][bs-content]I will say this upfront, this is one of the most beautifully written stories I've read in ages. But don't let the splendor of the prose fool you, there is trouble ahead. The story begins with a description of life at the extraordinary Lake Palcacocha, high in the Peruvian Andes. But the increasing likelihood of avalanches caused by rapidly warming glaciers means that lethal waves of water may cascade down to the tiny town below. The community, which now lives in constant fear, has employed a variety of emergency preparedness measures - including individual guardians who "watch" the lake. "One day, five years ago, [one of the guardians] sat talking with a friend about the many changes and costs that climate change is bringing to the Andes, whose residents have, by global standards, done very little to contribute to the problem." The result was a lawsuit against RWE, Germany's largest energy utility asking for damages in proportion to its role in worldwide climate change. A must read and share.[/bs-content][bs-link link="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/04/09/magazine/climate-change-peru-law.html" source="New York Times Magazine"]
Quote
[bs-quote link="https://www.npr.org/2018/08/17/639571356/yo-yo-ma-a-life-led-with-bach" author ="--Yo-Yo Ma"]Music, actually was invented, as all of culture was invented -- by us -- to help all of us figure out who we are.[/bs-quote]