WASHINGTON – Declaring that persistent black unemployment “should be deeply troubling to us,” Joint Economic Committee (JEC) Ranking Member Carolyn B. Maloney (D-N.Y.) Friday called on congressional Republicans to recognize the situation for the emergency it is.

 In a speech (link) before the Congressional Black Caucus Foundations’ annual legislative conference, Maloney noted that the 9.5 percent unemployment rate for African Americans is more than double the 4.4 percent unemployment rate for whites. In fact, the current unemployment rate for blacks is higher than the highest unemployment rate experienced by whites during the depths of the recession.

“When the white unemployment rate hit its high of 9.2 percent back in November of 2009, everyone – including our Republicans friends - reacted to the news with sincere alarm,” Maloney said. “It was universally viewed as an economic emergency of the highest order.

"The unemployment rate today for black Americans is even higher than that. And we sincerely hope our Republican friends can still see the situation for the emergency that it is and will agree with us now that something must be done.”

Income inequality is a further drag on the fortunes of African Americans, Maloney said. The median annual income for blacks is $25,000 less than for whites. The income gap between the top 5 percent of households and the bottom 20 percent is now nine-to-one, the largest it’s ever been since the U.S. Census Bureau started keeping records in 1967.

Furthermore, the median net worth of white households is 13 times higher than for African American households. In 2013, the entire net worth of the median African American household was just $11,000 – “hardly enough to buy a reliable used car,” Maloney said.

“Nothing will ever get done until and unless policymakers truly grasp the scope of the problems we face,” Maloney said

“The good news,” she added, “is there are things that can be done to make the situation better. Practical, achievable, popular policies that we can put in place right now to start a process of real change.”

For example:

•  Increase the shrinking minimum wage. The minimum wage today is worth less than it was almost 50 years ago. In 1968, someone earning the minimum wage and working full-time year-round earned the equivalent of $22,700 in today’s dollars. Today, that same full time, year-round worker makes a little over $15,000, which is almost $8,500 below the poverty line for a family of four.

•  Expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). The EITC provides poorer families with greater economic incentive to work hard and earn more. It has been proven to be both practical and effective. In 2013 it lifted about 6.2 million people out of poverty.

•  Ensure every American has access to a quality education. We should expand early childhood education, restore cuts to Pell Grants and strengthen the role of community colleges.

•  Pass bipartisan bills that address problems in the criminal justice system. The Smarter Sentencing Act is at the top of that list.

 

 The full speech is here.

A JEC report on the economic challenges of African Americans is available here.

An updated fact sheet on African American economic challenges is here

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