While debate may rage over whether President Barack Obama’s administration has been good for Black people, a Prudential survey says that Black people are doing better financially.
The Prudential survey indicated that African-Americans report a “greater sense of advancement and optimism about their financial situations, compared to the general population.” Further the survey says that, 58 percent of African Americans indicated they expect the next generation of their family will have a “better financial situation than their own,” compared to only 46 percent of the general population.
The survey findings were revealed by Delvin Joyce, managing director of Prudential’s South Florida Financial Group, at the National Association of Black Journalists conference, held recently in Minneapolis, Minn.
“The African-American Financial Experience” study interviewed 1,043 Black people and 556 general population Americans on a series of financial issues. The survey, carried out by market research firm GfK, talked to people ranging from 25-70 who fell into a variety of income brackets. More than half of the people interviewed made less than $50,000. Four percent of the interviewees made more than $150,000.
The research also revealed African-American responders believed the economy was slowly turning around. According to Prudential, it’s clear that an improving economy is “having a positive impact on the current financial outlook of all Americans.” It also said that 56 percent of Blacks surveyed feel “significantly or somewhat better off now compared to five years ago.” In 2013, less than half of African-American respondents believed they were better off financially, marking an increase in positive outlook.
Another interesting finding from the Prudential survey is Black people are becoming more educated about financial matters.
“More than half of African-Americans in this research consider themselves very well-prepared to make wise financial decisions,” according to Prudential.
Additionally, the majority of African-Americans gave themselves a letter grade of ‘A’ or ‘B’ for their knowledge of handling household budgets, managing money, debt and life insurance protection. But a high-percentage of respondents described themselves as savers instead of investors, which suggests that there’s opportunity for investments.
The Prudential survey refutes opinions put forward by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who said that under Obama, Black people were doing “worse than ever.” PolitiFact, a fact-checking site run by The Tampa Bay Times, also says Trump is incorrect.
“The African-American unemployment rate when Obama entered office was 12.7 percent,” reports PolitiFact. “By June 2015, it had fallen to 9.5 percent, a drop of about one-quarter. And compared with its Obama-era peak of 16.8 percent in March 2010, the unemployment rate has fallen by about 43 percent.”
PolitiFact points out that Trump is also incorrect about Obama’s statistics on the Black poverty rate. While the poverty rate did rise among Blacks since 2009, it’s not unprecedented, as it was higher than it is now between 1959 and 1996.
