Financial Issues of African Americans

Abstract

This chapter reviews research that highlights the financial issues of African Americans under the themes of financial knowledge, financial behaviors and outcomes, and financial attitudes. Both statistical trends and research show African Americans having inferior levels of financial knowledge, financial outcomes, and financial attitudes that do not align with pathways to financial security. Thus, the theory of cumulative disadvantage for African Americans in general seems to resonate across all these themes. Future research needs to focus on more in-depth and representative data with clearer racial delimitations to avoid generalizing African American financial issues with other minority groups whose financial socialization and financial outcomes are usually distinctly different in the presence of adequate data.