African-Americans and Latino millennials are more likely to be economically vulnerable than their white and Asian-American counterparts, according to a new report called “Gen Forward.” The report, which is based on 1,853 interviews, provides full representation of the generation,according to Cathy Cohen, political science professor at the University of Chicago and one of the authors.
“We know that African-American and Latino millennials are more likely to be unemployed,” Cohen said. “They are also more likely to receive less benefits from their employer. It’s not only that they are unemployed, they are less likely to have health care. They are less likely to receive dental care. They are less likely to be receiving payments into their retirements. So even when they are working, there’s still an economic gap that we would want to pay attention to.”
Often economic data tends to be divided into people of color and whites, but Cohen suggests grouping millennial whites and Asian-Americans in one category and blacks and Latinos in another.
“When we think about who is more likely to have a checking account, we see Asian-American and white millennials. When we ask who is more likely to have a savings account, again Asian-Americans and white millennials. When we look at who is more likely to have a credit card and who is more likely to pay off the balance of their credit card each month, again Asian-American and white millennials,” she explained.