3. Income and Asset Poverty in America
Asset Poverty: Households
with little or no financial
cushion if crisis leads to a
loss of income.
4. Income and Asset Poverty in America
Asset Poverty: Households
with little or no financial
cushion if crisis leads to a
loss of income.
Liquid Asset Poverty:
Households with little or no
financial cushion if crisis
leads to a loss of income
(not including assets such
as a house or car).
43% is 127.5 million people
5. Income and Asset Poverty in America
Significant racial
disparities
Asset Poverty: Households
A household is considered
with little or no financial
liquid if crisis leads it
cushionasset poor if to a
does income.
loss of not have sufficient
34%
white
20%
white
liquid assets (e.g., bank
accounts and other
financial assets) to live
Liquid Asset Poverty: at
the poverty level for three
Households with little or no
financial cushion if crisis of
months in the absence
leads to a loss of income
income.
(not including assets such
as a house or car).
43% is 127.5 million people
6. Asset Poverty in Comparison
Asset Poverty in North Carolina Communities
45%
40%
35%
30%
25%
20%
15%
10%
5%
0%
City
County
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
7. Who is Asset Poor in Durham
County?
Asset Poverty by Race & Ethnicity
60%
56%
49%
50%
49%
40%
30%
21%
20%
10%
0%
White
Black
Latino
All Households of
Color
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
8. Asset Poverty by Race in
Comparison
Asset Poverty by Race in North Carolina Communities
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
White
African-American
Latino
0%
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
9. Who is Asset Poor in Durham?
Asset Poverty by Educational Attainment
60%
50%
49%
40%
40%
27%
30%
16%
20%
10%
0%
High School Only
2 Yr Degree
Bachelor's
Degree
Advanced Degree
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
10. Who is Asset Poor in Durham?
Asset Poverty by Income
Above $107,289
30%
7%
$70,015-$107,289
of Households above
Poverty Line
18%
$45,655-$70,014
30%
$24,988-$45,654
2011 Poverty Line (family of 3): $18,530
67%
48%
Below $24,987
63%
0%
20%
40%
60%
of Households below
Poverty Line
80%
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
11. Other Asset Ownership is not
Equally Distributed in Durham
City of Durham North
Durham County Carolina
Homeownership
Rate
United
States
51.3%
65.9%
55.6%
67.6%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007-2009 American
Community Survey
City of Durham North
Durham County Carolina
Adults with
Bachelor’s
Degrees
46.5%
28.0%
44.6%
26.3%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2007-2009 American
Community Survey
Homeownership by Race
80%
60%
40%
20%
0%
United
States
Bachelor’s Degrees by Race
65%
100%
64%
44%
43%
29%
83%
50%
30%
18%
0%
White
Black
Latino Asian
White Black Latino Asian
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
12. Credit & Debt in Durham
Many consumers face credit constraints and high levels of debt
Durham County
North Carolina
United States
Consumers with
Subprime Credit
Scores
57.0%
58.6%
56.8%
Borrowers 90+ Days
Overdue
4.1%
3.9%
4.4%
Average Credit Card
Debt
$10,718
$11,405
$11,381
Average Installment
Debt
$29,346
$23,623
$23,669
Source: TransUnion Trend Data, Quarter 4, 2010
www.cfed.org
@CFEDNews
Editor's Notes
(2 min total for data!) – At its heart, MEOP was/is about starting a conversation about what families need to be financially secure. Start with a few high-level data points…Conversation about wealth and poverty is certainly not new for ZSR – addressing the racial and gender wealth gap is a stated objective of the Foundation. What’s new here is the ability to have data to tell a story about wealth and poverty at the local level… The #1 takeaway from the 2012 Assets & Opportunity Scorecard is that no matter how you measure it, poverty in America is increasing. In 2011, the country saw the official poverty rate rise to the highest level in nearly two decades. 14% of households are in poverty.
However, the official poverty rate highlights just one aspect of household finances, namely the percentage of people with insufficient income to cover their day-to-day expenses. It does not account for the resources—the money they have in the bank or assets such as a home or a car—a family has to meet emergencies or longer-term needs. By this measure, substantially more people in the U.S. today are facing a future of limited hope for long-term financial security.According to the Scorecard, 27% of households—nearly double the percentage that are income poor—are living in “asset poverty.”These families do not have the savings or other assets to cover basic expenses for three months if a layoff or other emergency leads to loss of income. Since the release of the last Scorecard in 2009, the number of asset poor families has increased by 21%—from one in five families to one in four families.
For the first time the Scorecard also includes a measure of what we call “liquid asset poverty,” which excludes assets such as a home, business or car that can’t easily be converted to cash, and consequently provides a more realistic picture of the resources families have to meet emergency needs. According to that measure, 43% of households—equivalent to 127.5 million people nationwide—are “liquid asset poor” with little or no savings to fall back on in an emergency.The story is also particularly disturbing for households of color, who are more than twice as likely as white households to be asset poor—44% compared with 20%, respectively. And a shockingly high proportion of households of color are also liquid-asset poor—65% compared with 34% of white households.
The story is also particularly disturbing for households of color, who are more than twice as likely as white households to be asset poor—44% compared with 20%, respectively. And a shockingly high proportion of households of color are also liquid-asset poor—65% compared with 34% of white households.
1 min, key points:Across all three NC communities, asset poverty higher than state and national averages.Asset poverty above 30% in all three counties; Durham highest (35%)Asset poverty higher in cities than in surrounding counties (W-S almost 40%)
1 min – key points:Asset gaps by race in three communities mirrors national trendsFor people of color in all three communities, asset poverty at 50% or higherAsset poverty for Latinos, in particular, higher statewide and esp. in three communities
In consultation with the research and policy subgroup [ who provided an enormous amount of guidance in thinking through what credit data indicators might be meaningful for your cities], we purchased a number of credit data indicators from TransUnion (one of the 3 main credit bureaus). The smallest geography we were able to get was the county, so that’s the data I’m presenting here.The first two indicators are: median TransRisk credit score – that’s TransUnion’s own credit scoring system, [which ranges on a scale from 150-934 for a county], as well as the percentage of country residents whose credit score is too low for them to access the most affordable credit. These two measures are indicators of residents’ relative access to affordable credit for either short term needs or to help finance an asset purchase. Over 40% of residents of all your cities are not able to access the most affordable credit, and that number jumps to over 60% in 6 of your 10 cities.This has a direct impact on access to affordable mortgage financing, and we will see some data on mortgage pricing in the next slide.The second two measures are indicators of people’s use of credit: what percentage of borrowers are 90 plus days behind on any loan payment. The second data point indicates where borrowers are in serious financial distress, and varies across your cities from a low of 2.1% to a high of 8.9%.