Black workers participate less in retirement plans and hold lower balances at equal salaries

Evidence

In 2013, 51.3 percent of American workers had access to a retirement plan sponsored by their employer or union. Of that group, only 40.8 percent participated. What this means is that the majority of Americans—black and white—are facing retirement without an employer-provided cushion. But the future is particularly bleak for black employees. In every field and at every salary level, black workers are less likely than their white counterparts to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan. When they do participate, they have lower account balances—even when they are in the same salary range as their white peers. Why? If black workers can beat the odds and get a salaried job with benefits, why wouldn’t they have the same retirement outcomes as their white colleagues? — Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth, 383

Categorization

• QUESTION: The author poses why black workers participate less even at equal salaries—the question drives the next argument chapter, worth chasing her answer.