Wooo hoooo! USA! USA! :patriot:
Question: What do $42,600 and $5 have in common?
Answer: they both represent the median net wealth of middle-aged American women. The only difference between the two numbers is race; while single white women from the ages of 36 to 49 have a median wealth of $42,600, single black women have a net wealth of just $5.
You read that right. The average net worth of middle-aged black women is just $5. And this statistic was drawn from the recently released 2007 Survey of Consumer Finances, which means that current post-recession figure could be even worse.
Before jumping into an explanation of this ridiculously low number, let me provide a quick note for the economically disinclined. Net wealth refers to "the total of one's assets -- cash in the bank, stocks, bonds and real estate; minus debts -- home mortgages, auto loans, credit cards and student loans." And a median is the middle number in a set of data, meaning that about half of single, middle-aged black women are worth more than five dollars and half are worth less.
(more)
http://uspoverty.change.org/blog/view/the_median_net_wealth_of_black_women_is_5