America’s families face a looming retirement crisis and it is worse for Asian-Americans and other communities of color than for whites. Millions of Asian-Americans work in low paid jobs located in high priced communities, but without benefits. Older Asian-Americans rely more on public assistance than any other population groups. Income and wealth inequality among Asian-Americans have also been rising over the past three decades. Many low-income and middle-income Asian-Americans then face a more dire prospect in retirement than their white counterparts.
News reports and research items often portray Asian-Americans as economically successful and secure. Yes, many Asian-Americans have substantial income and wealth, similar to that of whites. But using one number such as an average or even a median obscures the tremendous economic diversity of the Asian-American community and leads observers to ignore the widespread hardships that many older Asian-Americans face.
The above excerpt was originally published in Forbes.
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