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Source: St.mini storage Louis Post-DispatchSept. 29--Neither whites nor blacks are doing better than before the economy collapsed, but new census numbers show that blacks are suffering more lasting effects across the nation and the region.While white household income in the St. Louis region is 7 percent less than it was five years ago, income is 17 percent less for blacks. By comparison, white households nationally are bringing in 8 percent less while black households are 11 percent lower.For those who closely follow economic trends, the picture is disappointing, but not surprising."It's common in a recession that blacks are hurt more," said Howard Wall, director of the Center for Economics and the Environment at Lindenwood University. "When you have a weak recovery like this, it's always the people with less education and experience that are hurt the most."The new numbers show white households here make more than twice what blacks make.The median household income of whites in the region is $59,607, or $3,000 more than what whites typically make nationwide. At the same time, the median income for black households in St. Louis, $28,419, is more than $5,000 less than blacks typically make nationally.In the U.S., black households bring in nearly $23,000 less than whites. And in the St. Louis region, that gap jumps to more than $31,000, which is statistically about the same as in 2007, before the Great Recession.The disparity between races plays out much the same in other Midwest cities, such as Kansas City, Cleveland and Detroit, where neighborhoods are heavily segregated, urban schools are struggling and unemployment remains high for minorities.The new census numbers represent responses last year from about 3 percent of the country's population.In St. Louis and throughout the country, blacks continue to fall behind whites in high school and college graduation rates. The failure of public school systems has been on display in St. Louis the past year, with students in unaccredited Normandy and Riverview Gardens school districts, largely African-American, transferring to white suburban districts.Meanwhile, the unemployment rate for blacks, at 13 percent, is twice as high as that of whites.John Logan, a sociology professor at Brown University, said that as long as cities such as St. Louis remain highly segregated, blacks will continue to fall behind."There is a relationship between income disparity and residential segregation," said Logan. Among the 100 largest metro areas, St. Louis ranks in the Top 20 as most segregated.In urban black neighborhoods, schools are often inferior and crime rates higher, he said."With blacks, men in particular, they can get shuffled off into the court system, taken out of the labor market during an important part of life, and getting back in isn't easy," Logan said.WEALTH WIPED OUTAs a whole, the St. Louis region fares better than the country in median household income. St. Louis tops the national median income of $51,371 by about $1,000 a year.While household income is one variable to use when measuring the economic state of the country, another is household wealth, which is basically assets minus debts.In most cases, a home is the largest asset for a family. When and where the house is bought plays into how the home transfers into wealth, said Thomas M. Shapiro, director of the Institute on Assets and Social Policy at Brandeis University."It really is location, location, location," Shapiro said. His book, "The Hidden Cost of Being African-American," was shaped by interviews with families from three cities: Los Angeles, Boston and St. Louis.In the book and in subsequent related research, Shapiro and his staff at the institute have found time and again that black wealth, even on the high end, is lower than middle-income wealth for the country."White families are much more likely to get help from their families when purchasing their first home, which gets them into the real estate market sooner," said Hannah Thoma儲存, a senior research associate at the institute.A later start means less equity in a house and fewer opportunities to move up the real estate ladder, Thomas said. As a result, white household wealth is 10 times greater than blacks.Mark Rank, a professor of social welfare at Washington University, has a book coming out in March looking at how well people do economically over time. One chapter is on cumulative inequality.He explains it this way: Poor blacks are often raised in neighborhoods with few job opportunities and underperforming schools. Children often are exposed to environmental hazards and raised with limited access to food. Families live day-to-day."If you are living in poverty, any little thing can upset the apple cart," Rank said. The Great Recession affected everyone's wealth. For blacks in particular, the poor economy "wiped it out," he said.SOLVING THE FUTUREMichael Holmes knows well the economic health of St. Louis households. Every day, unemployed people come to his office at the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment. They are defeated. They say they've given up. They consider a stop at his door the last hope for good news."We tell them we don't give you a job, but we put people in competition for jobs," said Holmes, the agency's executive director. "That's not always what they want to hear."He says it's difficult for people to see the future when they are thinking about missing next month's rent or mortgage payment.The agency builds relationships with area employers to find out what kinds of jobs are available, then helps the unemployed get the appropriate training.He sees people of all races and ages, frustrated by unemployment. For young black men, he knows the challenges can seem insurmountable.They often don't have the education or experience. Or role models, Holmes said."If you never saw someone in your home go to work in the morning, how do you know how to go to work?" said Holmes, who is African-American."I want to help them help themselves. I tell them we can't solve the past. We can only solve the future. But you have to want to do it. Yeah, it can be tough. But you've got to start."A few years back, BJC Healthcare approached Holmes and a partner agency, Madison County Employment and Training, with an offer. BJC would need a more-qualified pool of applicants for medical billing and coding jobs as the Affordable Care Act went into effect. Holmes and his counterpart in Madison County were asked to find people for such training, which would be paid for by BJC and administered by St. Louis Community College. There would be no guarantee of a job afterward, but BJC would get to make the first offer to those who passed the program. Those not hired by BJC would have the qualifications to apply at other hospitals.Kristi Russell, 40, is one of 21 students in the 18-month program, running through March.She had been out of work for several months as a union electrician, living off her savings. Instead of looking for more work in her field, Russell enrolled in the health care program."Everything is changing. I'm trying to cash in on the baby boomers," said Russell, of south St. Louis. She said she is more fortunate than others. Russell is a single mother, but her daughter is 20 so she does not have to worry about child care. And with her savings, Russell does not have to work and go to school at the same time."I'm not going in for the money. I'm going for the stability."Logan, at Brown University, said perception differs greatly from reality on what black families, such as Russell's, are going through financially."There's the assumption that we've solved it, that it's all worked out now," Logan said. "We've got a black president. There's blacks on TV. What do you want?"It can be shocking to see what the actual data show about how different people are living."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Visit the St. Louis Post-Dispatch at .stltoday.com Distributed by MCT Information Services儲存倉