EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, ECONOMICS

EDUCATION

• 85% of Black high school students graduate (U.S. Bureau of the Census, March 1997).
  
  
• Black men who graduate from high school earn from 25% to 35% more than black men who drop out (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997).
  
  
• Black women who complete high school earn about 50% more than those who drop out (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1997).
  
  
• About 1 out of 5 Black American college students attends a Historically Black College or University (Educational Resources Information Center, Clearinghouse on Urban Education, Columbia University, HBCU Project http://eric-web.tc.columbia.edu/hbcu, accessed on November 9, 2001).
  
  
• About 1 out of 3 Black Americans who graduated from college went to an HBCU (Columbia University HBCU Project, November 2001).
  
  
• About 50% of Black high school graduates go on to attend college (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1997).
  
  
• 16-to-24 year old black men are more than twice as likely than young white men to be both out of school and out of work (National Center for Educational Statistics, 1997).

EMPLOYMENT AND INCOME

• In 1999, median family income for Black Americans was still only $31,778, compared to $51,244 for Whites.
  
  
• From 1989 to 1998, Black American middle class families logged an average of 4,278 hours of work per year – almost 500 more hours per year than White families.
  
  
• In 1999, unemployment for Black Americans was 8%, compared to 3.7% for Whites.
  
  
• Fewer than half (46%) of Black American households own their own homes, compared to the national average of 72% (Changing America, 1999).
  
  
• Black American men earn 71 cents for every dollar earned by their White counterparts.
  
  
• Unemployment rates for Black American youths are three times higher than the national average.
  
  
• Over six million Black children (62%) live in single-parent households (U.S. Census Bureau, 1999).
  
  BLACK AMERICAN ASSETS
  
  
• Black Americans now comprise the largest buying power group at $572.1 billion per year, representing two out of every three dollars spent by minorities (University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, 2000).
  
  
• Black American households with annual incomes of more than $100,000 increased from 2.3 % in 1990 to 2.7 % in 1996 (University of Georgia’s Selig Center for Economic Growth, 2000).
  
  
• More than 800,000 U.S. businesses are owned by Black Americans, generating $71.2 billion in revenues (U.S. Commerce Department, Census Bureau, March 2001).
  
  
• 9 out of 10 Black American businesses are owned by individuals (1997 Survey of Minority-Owned Business Enterprises, U.S. Commerce Department, March 2001).
  
  
• 35 % of Black American-owned businesses are in just four states: New York, California, Texas, and Florida. Those four states are home to 3 out of 10 Black Americans (U.S. Commerce Department, March 2001).
  
  
• More than half of Black-owned businesses are in the service industry (U.S. Commerce Department, March 2001).
  
  
• The number of Black-owned firms increased 25 % from 1992 to 1997, and their income rose from $32 billion to $43 billion during that same period (U.S. Commerce Department, March 2001).
  
  
• Black-owned firms are about 3-4% of all US firms (U.S. Department of Commerce, Minority Business Development Administration, 2001).
  
  POVERTY
  
  
• Nearly 1 out of every 4 Black Americans (24%) lives in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
  
  
• 3.5 million Black children (31%) live below the poverty level (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
  
  
• Nine out of every ten Black Americans who reach age 75 spend at least one of their adult years in poverty (Cornell University, Washington University, 1999).
  
  
• The poverty rate for Black Americans is three times the rate for White Americans (U.S. Census Bureau, 2000).
  
  
• 36% of Black Americans receive some type of public assistance.