ISSUES THEN AND NOW

Income and Employment

The initial economic boom of the 1990’s decreased the racial income gap in both the city and suburbs. However, the gap still persists, and the recent economic downturn (1999-2000) increased the income gap by 11%. While the poverty level fell, more Caucasians were pulled out of poverty than any other group, increasing the racial poverty gap. The gap is strongest in the mid to low income ranges. A detailed report can be found here

  • In 2000, for every dollar a low-income household earned in Chicago, a high-income household earned $3.89, compared to the national average of $1 to $3.75.
  • The median income for African American households is 66% of the average Caucasian household income.
  • When the highest range is ignored, we see that “Latino and African American men earn less than half of their Asian American and Caucasian counterparts.”
  • More than thirty percent of African Americans in Chicago make less than $15,000.*
  • Chicago has experienced a net loss of jobs over the past decade. The racial gap in employment has remained constant, with the average unemployment rate for people of color being 11.5% compared to 3.3% for Caucasians.
  • Over this time period, unemployment was higher in Chicago than in the suburbs, demonstrating the movement of jobs into higher opportunity areas. Businesses, factories, retail, and other institutions along with the jobs they entail, have for the most part left the inner city, especially the predominately African American neighborhoods.
  • 10 of the city’s poorest 15 neighborhoods are 94% or higher African American. ?
  • African Americans comprise a disproportionately high amount of those who are working but remain poor in both the city and the metropolitan area.
  • African Americans comprise a disproportionate amount of the city’s homeless.
  • 14 out of the 16 Chicago community areas which comprise the bottom quintile of neighborhood “economic vitality” are 94% or more African American.
  • Inhabitants of the inner city are now faced with a harsh reality: the inner city cannot offer the financial opportunities to generate wealth and those neighborhoods which can do not contain attainable housing.

 
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In collaboration with the Center for Urban Research and Learning, Loyola University Chicago