Gene

Labour economics

Demography

Inequality

Gender studies

Social class

Economics

Market economy

Biochemistry

White (mutation)

Keynesian economics

Recession

Middle class

Mathematics

Politics

Political science

Demographic economics

Sociology

Mathematical analysis

Debt

Educational attainment

Net worth

Working class

Chemistry

Economic growth

Finance

Race (biology)

The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science

What does it mean to be working class in a society of extreme racial wealth inequality? Using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances, we investigate the wealth holdings of Black, Latinx, and white working-class households during the post–Great Recession (pre–COVID-19) period that spanned 2010 to 2019. We then explore the relationship between working-class and middle-class attainment using a wealth-based metric. We find that, in terms of their net worth, fewer Black working-class households benefitted from the economic recovery than white working-class households. Among white households, the working class saw the greatest increase in wealth in both absolute and relative terms. Working-class households were less likely to be middle class as defined by their wealth holdings, and Black and Latinx households were also less likely to be middle class. For Black households, racial identity is a stronger predictor of wealth attainment than occupational sector.

Disparate Recoveries: Wealth, Race, and the Working Class after the Great Recession