Communist
28th February 2010, 01:42
.
Recession Hits Older Blacks in What Should Be Their Prime (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/23/87463/recession-hits-older-blacks-in.html)
By Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers
February 2010
WASHINGTON - America's economic recession has hit African
Americans who are middle age and older much harder over
the last year than it has the general public, according to
a new survey released Tuesday by the AARP.
In telephone surveys, more than twice as many African
Americans ages 45 and older reported having trouble
paying their mortgage or rent, having to cut back on
medications and having borrowed money to pay living
expenses in comparison to the general population.
Twice as many blacks also reported losing a job and
having a spouse who either lost a job or had to take a
second job. Nearly twice as many blacks had difficulty
paying for essential items such as food and utilities.
These older, established black workers also lost their
job-based health coverage at higher rates, were more
likely to raid their retirement savings prematurely and
provide financial help to their parents and children
more often than their age-equivalent peers, the survey
found.
The data reinforces what many experts have said for
months: that the recession is really a depression for
many blacks, particularly in areas where black
unemployment has surpassed or hovers around 20 percent.
AARP Vice President Edna Kane-Williams said the
disparities reflect the tough circumstances and tough
choices blacks are making to survive the economic
downturn.
"The recession has driven many African Americans to
make hard choices now that may lead to serious problems
down the road," Kane-Williams said. "Raiding your nest
egg or ending contributions, even in the short-term,
will have long-term consequences because you will have
less time to make up the losses."
The troubling findings paint a gloomy financial picture
for African-American workers during what should be some
of their prime earning years, said Algernon Austin, who
heads the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program at
the Economic Policy Institute.
The data also bodes ill for the future of these
workers, Austin said, since many are using their
retirement savings to pay for living expenses, health
care and education costs and to support adult children.
"These findings suggest we shouldn't be surprised if we
see increases in poverty rates for blacks 65 and older
in the coming years because a number of them are
spending down their retirement income to try to get
past this Great Recession," he said.
Equally troubling is that older blacks aren't
consulting financial planners or using the Internet for
financial assistance at the same rates as their non-
black peers. Instead, they're relying more on financial
advice from friends and family members.
The survey did find that blacks were more likely to be
training for a job in a new field, looking for a job
and taking part in job fairs.
Nationally, the black unemployment rate is 16.5
percent, compared with 9.7 percent for the nation as a
whole. The jobless rate is 8.7 percent for whites, 12.6
percent for Hispanics and 8.4 percent for Asians.
"I would have no problem saying (blacks are) in a
depression," Austin said. "There are different
technical definitions and debates about what is or
isn't a depression, but to me, when you have
unemployment close to 20 percent or above, the
community is economically depressed."
The AARP survey was conducted by phone in January and
involved a national random sample of 1,407 respondents,
of which 405 were black. The margin of error is 3.1
percentage points for the non-black respondents and 4.9
percentage points for the African-American sample
group.
_____________________________________________
Recession Hits Older Blacks in What Should Be Their Prime (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/02/23/87463/recession-hits-older-blacks-in.html)
By Tony Pugh
McClatchy Newspapers
February 2010
WASHINGTON - America's economic recession has hit African
Americans who are middle age and older much harder over
the last year than it has the general public, according to
a new survey released Tuesday by the AARP.
In telephone surveys, more than twice as many African
Americans ages 45 and older reported having trouble
paying their mortgage or rent, having to cut back on
medications and having borrowed money to pay living
expenses in comparison to the general population.
Twice as many blacks also reported losing a job and
having a spouse who either lost a job or had to take a
second job. Nearly twice as many blacks had difficulty
paying for essential items such as food and utilities.
These older, established black workers also lost their
job-based health coverage at higher rates, were more
likely to raid their retirement savings prematurely and
provide financial help to their parents and children
more often than their age-equivalent peers, the survey
found.
The data reinforces what many experts have said for
months: that the recession is really a depression for
many blacks, particularly in areas where black
unemployment has surpassed or hovers around 20 percent.
AARP Vice President Edna Kane-Williams said the
disparities reflect the tough circumstances and tough
choices blacks are making to survive the economic
downturn.
"The recession has driven many African Americans to
make hard choices now that may lead to serious problems
down the road," Kane-Williams said. "Raiding your nest
egg or ending contributions, even in the short-term,
will have long-term consequences because you will have
less time to make up the losses."
The troubling findings paint a gloomy financial picture
for African-American workers during what should be some
of their prime earning years, said Algernon Austin, who
heads the Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy program at
the Economic Policy Institute.
The data also bodes ill for the future of these
workers, Austin said, since many are using their
retirement savings to pay for living expenses, health
care and education costs and to support adult children.
"These findings suggest we shouldn't be surprised if we
see increases in poverty rates for blacks 65 and older
in the coming years because a number of them are
spending down their retirement income to try to get
past this Great Recession," he said.
Equally troubling is that older blacks aren't
consulting financial planners or using the Internet for
financial assistance at the same rates as their non-
black peers. Instead, they're relying more on financial
advice from friends and family members.
The survey did find that blacks were more likely to be
training for a job in a new field, looking for a job
and taking part in job fairs.
Nationally, the black unemployment rate is 16.5
percent, compared with 9.7 percent for the nation as a
whole. The jobless rate is 8.7 percent for whites, 12.6
percent for Hispanics and 8.4 percent for Asians.
"I would have no problem saying (blacks are) in a
depression," Austin said. "There are different
technical definitions and debates about what is or
isn't a depression, but to me, when you have
unemployment close to 20 percent or above, the
community is economically depressed."
The AARP survey was conducted by phone in January and
involved a national random sample of 1,407 respondents,
of which 405 were black. The margin of error is 3.1
percentage points for the non-black respondents and 4.9
percentage points for the African-American sample
group.
_____________________________________________