Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!

The wealth gap between homeowners and renters is huge, a new report says

Nov 27, 2024
Homeowners' median net worth is about $400,000. Renters? Just $10,000, according to the Aspen Institute's Financial Security Program.
Home equity accounts for about half of the renter-homeowner wealth gap, according to the Aspen Institute.
Frederic J. Brown/AFP via Getty Images

Explaining the racial gap in stock market investment

New research finds that inequities in unemployment risk can explain some of the racial gap in stock market investment.
champc/Getty Images

How the Dawes Act cratered Native American wealth for generations

Under the Dawes Act of 1887, Native Americans lost more than 90 million acres of tribal land, which were sold to non-Native citizens.
Above, a 1911 advertisement for lands sold by the United States Department of the Interior.
Courtesy Library of Congress

As consumer sentiment survey is released, differences emerge at different wealth levels

Apr 26, 2024
Inflation continues to be a key factor but richer folks have greater protection from its effects.
Wealthy and low-income households are not experiencing inflation the same way, says Kayla Bruun with Morning Consult.
David McNew/Getty Images

In the “girl” era, are women really splurging for fun?

Feb 29, 2024
Economic disadvantages like the wealth gap persist, despite talk of the “she-conomy."
Since the pandemic began, single women and other lower-wealth groups saw larger percentage gains in their wealth than their higher-wealth counterparts. Hernández Kent said that’s primarily because it’s easier to double a small amount of money.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images

"We've got a lot more progress to go" on fixing racial disparities caused by the tax system

Jan 18, 2024
Dorothy Brown of Georgetown University has spent her career researching race and the tax code. Now, she advises the Treasury Department.
The Internal Revenue Service does not collect or publish statistics by race, but there is more to the story, says Dorothy Brown of Georgetown University.
J. David Ake/Getty Images

U.S. households' net worth surged during pandemic, Fed Reserve survey finds

Oct 19, 2023
Net worth increased, even for low-income families. But is this just a temporary improvement in the wealth gap?
Things like pandemic relief checks and extended unemployment helped U.S. households' median net worth soar 37% between 2019 to 2022 after adjusting for inflation.
Scott Olson/Getty Images

For public good, not for profit.

Want to start a business? It helps to have rich parents

Jan 18, 2023
How heavily are the odds stacked against startups without the “massive leg up” of family wealth?
EXTREME-PHOTOGRAPHER/Getty Images Plus

Slavery ended in the 1860s. Why hasn't the wealth gap closed for Black Americans?

Jun 20, 2022
Juneteenth commemorates Black Americans' emancipation from slavery, yet their economic emancipation continues.
Demonstrators marched Friday in Newark, New Jersey, to celebrate Juneteenth and demand reparations for Black Americans. Structural and legal barriers have limited Black people's opportunities to build wealth.
Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

Report details widening pandemic-era wealth gap

Jan 17, 2022
In its report, Oxfam proposes a wealth tax on a perpetually growing list of billionaires.
The gulf between wealth and poverty has gotten much wider during the pandemic, according to an Oxfam report.
hyejin kang via Getty Images