How Black Middle-Class Kids Become Poor Adults

[aGameOfThrones]

When it comes to financial stability, black Americans are often in much more precarious financial situations than white Americans. Their unemployment rate is higher, and so is the level of poverty within the black community. In 2013, the poverty rate among white Americans was 9.6 percent, among black Americans it was 27.2 percent. And the gap between the wealth of white families and black families has widened to its highest levels since 1989, according to a 2014 study by Pew Research Center.

The facts of this rift aren’t new, or all that surprising. But perhaps what’s most unsettling about the current economic climate in black America is that when black families attain middle-class status, the likelihood that their children will remain there, or do better, isn’t high.

“Even black Americans who make it to the middle class are likely to see their kids fall down the ladder,” writes Richard Reeves, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute. In a recent blog post Reeves says that seven out of 10 black children who are born to families with income that falls in the middle quintile of the income spectrum will find themselves with income that's one to two quintiles below their parents' during their own adulthood.

A 2014 study from the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, which looked at factors like parental income, education, and family structure, shows a similar pattern: Many black Americans not only fail to move up, but show an increased likelihood of backsliding. According to the study, “In recent decades, blacks have experienced substantially less upward intergenerational mobility and substantially more downward intergenerational mobility than whites.”

The greater probability of slipping back applies to blacks across income groups. According to the Fed study, about 60 percent of black children whose parents had income that fell into the top 50 percent of the distribution saw their own income fall into the bottom half during adulthood. This type of downward slide was common for only 36 percent of white children.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/black-...124000819.html

[Ronin Truth]

Drop out of school before graduating.

Have babies without getting married first.

Get involved with drugs.

Join a gang.

Go to prison.

Not be able to get and keep a job.

Make more really bad decisions and life choices.

Etc., Etc., Etc.

Tain't really rocket science.

[2young2vote]

Drop out of school before graduating.

Have babies without getting married first.

Get involved with drugs.

Join a gang.

Go to prison.

Not be able to get and keep a job.

Make more really bad decisions and life choices.

Etc., Etc., Etc.

Tain't really rocket science.

Do you think that is common for middle class black families?

[Keith and stuff]

Do you think that is common for middle class black families?

It is common for middle class black men to go to jail. Once someone goes to jail, especially if it is a felony, it is much harder to do well financially. Rand Paul is trying to help with this problem

[Ronin Truth]

Do you think that is common for middle class black families?

It's a very common subset of behaviors of the generations of the poor generally.

[Peter4Paul2016]

Really? "It's common for black middle class men to go to jail?" lol... wow.

I live in Washington DC - being a very international/ diverse town, I've grown up with people from a wide range of ethnicities/backgrounds & economic situations...

Most of my black friends (& people I grew up with) are FROM poor areas, but are now middle & upper middle class despite the racial challenges in this country (something I'm not sure you understand). Not everyone of course breaks free of the ghetto, but I'd say that a high percentage of people I know have worked hard to get out of the "hood."

[Keith and stuff]

Really? "It's common for black middle class men to go to jail?" lol... wow.

Look up the statistics. I should have added, in the United States. It isn't common in Canada or France, for example.

Nearly 50% of black men and 40% of white men are arrested at least once on non-traffic-related crimes by the time they turn 23, according to a new study.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/n...ested/4669225/

Don't get me wrong, I know dozens of middle class white males that have been arrested. I know several black males that have gone to jail. I have both a black middle class friend and a white middle class friend that went to jail for murder. I've known wealthy men that have gone to jail (DUI). Over a dozen of the poor, white, male free staters I know went to jail for civil disobedience. Remember, you go to jail for go 6 MPH over the speed limit or parking in the wrong spot, if you don't pay the ticket.

My guess is, unless the laws drastically improve, by the time I'm 60, 80% of males in the United States will have been arrested. Of course, I think the laws will improve, as we are seeing with marijuana reform but the criminal justice system (accidentally maybe?) is currently designed to make sure most males are arrested for non-driving related crimes.

[GunnyFreedom]

Drop out of school before graduating.

Have babies without getting married first.

Get involved with drugs.

Join a gang.

Go to prison.

Not be able to get and keep a job.

Make more really bad decisions and life choices.

Etc., Etc., Etc.

Tain't really rocket science.

I'm a white middle class kid who became a poor adult and I've done none of these things.

[Ronin Truth]

I'm a white middle class kid who became a poor adult and I've done none of these things.

Or join the Marines (gang).

" I spent 33 years and four months in active military service and during that period I spent most of my time as a high class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico and especially Tampico safe for American oil interests in 1914. I helped make Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues in. I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. I helped purify Nicaragua for the International Banking House of Brown Brothers in 1902–1912. I brought light to the Dominican Republic for the American sugar interests in 1916. I helped make Honduras right for the American fruit companies in 1903. In China in 1927 I helped see to it that Standard Oil went on its way unmolested. Looking back on it, I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three districts. I operated on three continents." -- United States Marine Corps Major General Smedley Darlington Butler

[heavenlyboy34]

Or join the Marines.

Or see the Handicapper General and collect SSI disability for life...

[erowe1]

It's a very common subset of behaviors of the generations of the poor generally.

Middle class means not poor.

[erowe1]

I'm a white middle class kid who became a poor adult and I've done none of these things.

Same here. But I think an impartial observer would predict that I won't be poor for long, unless the economy as a whole tanks. And I think the same is probably true of you.

[Ronin Truth]

Same here. But I think an impartial observer would predict that I won't be poor for long, unless the economy as a whole tanks. And I think the same is probably true of you.

Ah, another ( poor adult ) gang member.

[Ronin Truth]

Middle class means not poor.

https://www.google.com/search?q=war+...gbv=2&oq=&gs_l=

[tod evans]

Of course, I think the laws will improve,

I thought that too for 30 some years.....I don't any more.

For every minor triumph there are several major losses..

If government is not forced to drastically curtail both spending and legislation/enforcement things are only going to deteriorate.

[Todd]

Do you think that is common for middle class black families?

Maybe not common, but certainly more probable in this day and time for any young adult. But its not just exclusive to blacks.

[fisharmor]

Well, I'm not poor, but I'm definitely less well off than my parents or my wife's parents were at my age.

Of course, I'm not a government employee, either.

Gunny, you've got a ticket to easy street. I know people with service under their belts who went and got a DeVry cert, and now they're plugged into the war machine doing Lord knows what paper pushing and making me look like a church mouse.

If the goal for black males is simply get to the middle class, well it's that easy. Go kill some middle class men in Eurasia, come home, get a degree in ANYTHING, and then go get a 6 figure job with a contractor.

They'll protect you as long as you know how to play the game.

Or, like Gunny probably did, you could recognize that an easy life isn't the one and only thing.

[GunnyFreedom]

Same here. But I think an impartial observer would predict that I won't be poor for long, unless the economy as a whole tanks. And I think the same is probably true of you.

Well, true enough. I didn't become poor until I gave up my life and ran for office. Once I got back into the real world, I can't seem to get any kind of traction at all, and tech employers figure I'm too long out of the field, or I am too long being self employed. If the economy catches fire again, I should do just fine self employed.

[GunnyFreedom]

Well, I'm not poor, but I'm definitely less well off than my parents or my wife's parents were at my age.

I'm doing better in 2014 than I did in 2013. I made about $18k in 2014. ($22k is considered 'poverty level'). I think I made about $12k in 2013.

Back in 2001-2006 I was regularly making $45-$50k. What killed me was dropping out and devoting my whole life to politics. Unlike the evil people who get 'taken care of' by the evil cabal, instead I get blackballed and punished for trying to upset the apple cart.

Of course, I'm not a government employee, either.

Gunny, you've got a ticket to easy street. I know people with service under their belts who went and got a DeVry cert, and now they're plugged into the war machine doing Lord knows what paper pushing and making me look like a church mouse.

LOL I dunno what this ticket looks like, but if it involves perpetuating the MIC then I don't want it.

If the goal for black males is simply get to the middle class, well it's that easy. Go kill some middle class men in Eurasia, come home, get a degree in ANYTHING, and then go get a 6 figure job with a contractor.

They'll protect you as long as you know how to play the game.

Or, like Gunny probably did, you could recognize that an easy life isn't the one and only thing.

I'm not really complaining, I mean, even knowing the outcome of my attempt I would do it all over again. I do wish I could still afford to, you know, eat.