arbiter
JournalsAccount

Race and Economic Well-Being in the United States

Jean-Félix Brouillette et al.

American Economic Review: Insights2025https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20240467article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.37

Abstract

We construct a measure of consumption-equivalent welfare for Black and White Americans, which incorporates life expectancy, consumption, leisure, and inequality. Based on these factors, welfare for Black Americans was 40 percent of that for White Americans in 1984 and 59 percent by 2022. There has been remarkable progress for Black Americans: The level of their consumption-equivalent welfare increased by a factor of 3.5 over the last 38 years when aggregate consumption per person only doubled. Despite this progress, the welfare gap in 2022 remains disconcertingly large at 41 percent, much larger than the 16 percent gap in consumption per person. (JEL D12, I12, I31, J15, J31, K42)

1 citation

Open via your library →

Cite this paper

https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20240467

Or copy a formatted citation

@article{jean-félix2025,
  title        = {{Race and Economic Well-Being in the United States}},
  author       = {Jean-Félix Brouillette et al.},
  journal      = {American Economic Review: Insights},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20240467},
}

Paste directly into BibTeX, Zotero, or your reference manager.

Flag this paper

Race and Economic Well-Being in the United States

Flags are reviewed by the Arbiter methodology team within 5 business days.

Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.