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| Photo: Income inequality in the U.S. between certain minorities is now at its highest levels in decades. Photo courtesy: racialwealthgap.org |
When it comes to income inequality in Florida, there's good news and bad news. According to a recent report by the financial social networking site Wallet Hub, the state ranks No. 1 in the U.S. with the smallest income gap between whites and minorities, but that gap is still quite large, especially for African Americans, with a median household income gap of 32 percent.
Al Pina is president Urban Redevelopment Solutions with the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition. He says the study findings cloud the big picture in the Sunshine State.
"The Casey Foundation did a recent study that showed 73 percent of all poverty in Florida is people of color and, so this is a racial issue," Pina says.
The Wallet Hub report used a total of 21 different metrics to differentiate minority income disparities. For Florida Hispanics, the gap is 23 percent.
Pina, whose organization's goal is empowering low-income and minorities by attracting investments in their communities, says Latinos are still being hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting 'great recession.'
"A majority of the funding Hispanics use for small business start-ups or expansion comes from home equity," says Pina. "So, if you look at the foreclosure crisis, literally 62 percent of equity was dissolved."
Despite some progress in Florida, the nationwide wealth gap between white and black households is at its highest in 25 years.
For Hispanics it's the highest since 2001. That's according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. Among the minorities studied by Wallet Hub, the net worth of Asian-Americans is higher than all other racial groups. In Florida their household worth measures 25 percent more than whites.
Al Pina is president Urban Redevelopment Solutions with the Florida Minority Community Reinvestment Coalition. He says the study findings cloud the big picture in the Sunshine State.
"The Casey Foundation did a recent study that showed 73 percent of all poverty in Florida is people of color and, so this is a racial issue," Pina says.
The Wallet Hub report used a total of 21 different metrics to differentiate minority income disparities. For Florida Hispanics, the gap is 23 percent.
Pina, whose organization's goal is empowering low-income and minorities by attracting investments in their communities, says Latinos are still being hit hard by the subprime mortgage crisis and the resulting 'great recession.'
"A majority of the funding Hispanics use for small business start-ups or expansion comes from home equity," says Pina. "So, if you look at the foreclosure crisis, literally 62 percent of equity was dissolved."
Despite some progress in Florida, the nationwide wealth gap between white and black households is at its highest in 25 years.
For Hispanics it's the highest since 2001. That's according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center. Among the minorities studied by Wallet Hub, the net worth of Asian-Americans is higher than all other racial groups. In Florida their household worth measures 25 percent more than whites.
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