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Author: Peter.Ciurczak@bostonindicators.org

  • Inequality and Insecurity in Retirement: Racial disparities in retirement plans in the U.S. and Massachusetts

    June 4, 2024

    Retirement assets are a large part of the wealth puzzle for families at the middle and upper end of the distribution.

  • Debt, Delinquency and Racial Disparities in Massachusetts

    May 17, 2024

    By Alyssa Haywoode and Peter Ciurczak Debt has several faces. Borrowing money for long-term investments can be beneficial because it allows individuals or businesses to leverage capital they don’t currently…

  • Breaking Down Asset Types by Race

    April 11, 2024

    By Peter Ciurczak Net wealth is the difference of two values; that is, assets (the positive side of the ledger) minus liabilities, or debt (the negative side).  While most of…

  • Race and Class Zoning in Newton

    March 20, 2024

    By Alyssa Haywoode When Amy Dain began exploring the history of zoning in Greater Boston, she found evidence of widespread exclusionary zoning, policies that largely resulted in segregation by race…

    Newton Street View
  • A race/class analysis of the wealth distribution

    January 31, 2024

    In relative terms, Black and Latino Americans really are far more likely to be low-wealth. But it’s simultaneously true that most low-wealth families are white.

  • The Role of Stocks and Retirement Accounts in the Black-White Wealth Gap

    January 30, 2024

    By Alyssa Haywoode January 29, 2024 A new research study suggests one key component of the country’s Black-White wealth gap is differential ownership of stocks, stock-linked assets, and retirement accounts.…

    Numbers on board
  • Buy Back the Block: Examining Commercial Real Estate’s Potential to Boost Black Wealth

    December 15, 2023

    By Alyssa Haywoode December 19, 2023 Most Americans don’t own commercial real estate — properties that include retail shops, warehouses, auto repair shops, hotels, and owner-occupied doctors’ and dentists’ offices…

    Storefront Image
  • Exclusionary by Design: An Investigation of Zoning’s Use as a Tool of Exclusion

    November 8, 2023

    Based on extensive review of local planning documents, state reports, and press coverage over the past 100 years, this report finds widespread use of zoning as a tool of social…

    Overhead view of cul-de-sac
  • 9 Key Findings About Wealth in 2022

    October 31, 2023

    By Luc Schuster and Peter Ciurczak November 1, 2023 Newly released data from the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) provide our first picture of wealth coming out of the pandemic.…