Document Type
Working Paper
Date of this Version
10-12-2020
Abstract
This paper provides an in-depth examination of the financial well-being Black and Hispanic women and the factors contributing to it, using the 2018 wave of the National Financial Capability Study. We document meaningful differences between Black and Hispanic women versus White women, in that the former are more likely to face economic challenges that depress financial well-being. Controlling for differences in socio-demographic characteristics, there are important differences in the factors that contribute to financial well-being for Black and Hispanic women compared to White women. This includes distinct impacts of education, family structure, employment, and financial literacy. Our results imply that extant financial education programs inadequately address the needs of Black and Hispanic women.
Keywords
Financial well-being, financial literacy, financial education, financial fragility
JEL Code
I3, G53
Working Paper Number
WP2021-03
Copyright/Permission Statement
All findings and conclusions expressed are those of the authors and not the official views of the TIAA Institute or any of the other institutions with which the authors are affiliated. This research is part of the NBER Aging program and the Household Portfolio workshop. © 2020 Clark, Lusardi, Mitchell, and Davis
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge research support for this work from the TIAA Institute and the Pension Research Council/Boettner Center at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Additional support was provided by ICMM.
Date Posted: 24 February 2021