Racial Gap

“Black women incur some of the highest student debt burdens while pursuing higher education, which, when combined with a lack of job opportunities, deepens existing economic inequities and exacerbates the racial wealth gap,” the report authors write.

In a new article, Cantrell Dumas of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies argues that while new state and federal savings policies will likely increase Black retirement savings, the policies themselves are not enough to close the persistent Black-White retirement divide.

A new multi-university study has projected some 66 percent of U.S. counties will be at-risk for extreme heat exposure by 2100, with older adults, Black people, and residents living in the Southeast facing the highest risk.

New data from the American Institute of Physics has revealed Black students represented about 4.7 percent of all recipients of physics bachelor's degrees awarded by U.S. institutions during the 2024–2025 academic year. Black students' representation among physics undergraduate degree recipients has gradually increased over the past two decades.

The findings from a new study from scholars at Rutgers University suggests greater exposure to gun violence is a direct contributor to the persistent health disparities facing Black and Hispanic communities.

During the 1935 to 1947 period, foreign-born U.S. residents appeared to have benefited significantly more from these federal lending programs than native-born Black borrowers.

Between 2016 and 2022, the share of Black borrowers with new medical debt collections declined from 15.6 percent to 11.2 percent. Despite this improvement, Black borrowers were still nearly twice as likely as Hispanic and White borrowers and more than nine times as likely as Asian and Pacific Islander borrowers to carry medical debt in 2022.

A new report from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies examines how Black-White financial disparities throughout the lifetime contribute to severe economic hardship among Black retirees, who are more than twice as likely as White retirees to live in poverty.

A new study led by scholars at the University of Washington has found communities that have a larger share of residents living within 10 minutes of a pharmacy have lower racial disparities in medication use. This association was strongest among Black residents.

“Providing access to a quality math education for all Black students requires a transformation of our entire math education system, including dismantling the gatekeepers that perpetuate inequity. It must be grounded in the belief that all students are capable of math success when provided with the proper support,” writes Andrea McChristian, national policy director at Just Equations.

In a new study, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have found that Black women have accounted for more than one-fifth of all assault injuries among women in California over the past two decades. Across all ages, assault rates for Black women were 3.82 times higher than those of White women between 2005 and 2022.

According to the report, New York's public school system is the most racially segregated among all U.S. states, followed by Illinois and Pennsylvania. In contrast, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wyoming have the lowest levels of racial segregation in public schools.

After controlling for parents' income, education, and engagement, a new study found African American children's reading scores were comparable to their White peers. However, racial differences in mathematics readiness remained.

Of the 89 English-language streaming original films released in 2025, 16.9 percent featured Black lead actors and/or actresses, 14.3 percent were directed by Black filmmakers, and 8.7 percent were written by Black screenwriters. Overall BIPOC representation among streaming film leads, directors, and writers has declined over the past year.

Of the 37 Senate staff directors in committee offices, only one is African American. Among the 88 other Senate committee top staff positions, only two are held by Black Americans.

According to a new WalletHub analysis of all 50 states' education systems, Wyoming has the overall most racial equality in education, followed by West Virginia and New Mexico, In contrast, racial equality in education is the lowest in Wisconsin, Connecticut, and New Jersey.

In 2025, 79.3 percent of prime age (25 to 54 years old) Black men were employed. This is roughly 8 to 9 percentage points less than the employment rates of similarly aged Hispanic men (87.2 percent), White men (87.4 percent), and Asian men (88.8 percent).

Pulse oximeter devices often give artificially high blood oxygen levels for people with darker skin because the melanin in their skin absorbs light differently than lighter skin. Thus, Black patients who need supplemental oxygen are likely missing out on crucial follow-up care.

Of Greater Boston's $112 billion in total nonprofit revenue in 2023, only $1 billion went to women- and girls-serving organizations. Just $25 million went to groups specifically focused on women and girls of color.

For Black women with a college degree, the maternal mortality rate in 2019 was 26.21 per 100,000 women. This was more than four times the rate for White women with a college degree.