Housing

By 2050 the communities with the highest entrepreneurial ambition will be the majority of this country. Former JBI President Mitria Wilson-Spotser talks with Shannan Herbert, CEO & President of the Washington Area Community Investment Fund, Inc. (WACIF) about what will it take to meet this moment head-on. Find this episode on your podcast platform.

Like generations that came before them, Gen Z and Millennials want to own homes, start businesses, retire comfortably, and leave something for their loved ones. However, not everyone has an equal chance of achieving these ambitions. Julian Bond Institute’s 2050 Survey, a nationally representative survey of Americans’ financial experiences and aspirations, found that whether Gen Z and Millennials are on track to achieve their financial aspirations is in part determined by the financial resources of their households of origin. Whereas people with intergenerational wealth are more likely to be on track to achieve their own wealth-building goals, those who have faced financial hardships in childhood are more likely to feel off track and more likely to experience further wealth stripping from high-cost credit products. Drawing on data from the 2050 Survey, we illustrate the uneven playing field of intergenerational wealth in six charts. Policymakers and financial institutions must act now to close access gaps and rein in predatory credit products, so that young Americans can achieve their financial ambitions regardless of the financial resources of their family of upbringing.

The Viewpoint is the official podcast of the Julian Bond institute for Financial Equity Research at the Center for Responsible Lending. Join us as we discuss economic empowerment, responsible innovation, and a fairer financial landscape, while offering practical takeaways and forward-looking ideas that can shape policy, financial markets, and your everyday financial decisions.

This tool provides an interactive way to explore the data of JBI's 2050 Survey. Click a topic on the left to jump to that section, or a survey question on the right to view its related data. Once you are within a section, click on the 'Home' icon to return to the main menu. The dashboard is optimized for a desktop experience and is not available on a mobile device.

Young Blacks and Latinos aspire to pass on intergenerational wealth at a higher rate than their White peers — despite the fact that they themselves are much less likely to have received an inheritance. Yet, despite these aspirations, 44% of Gen Z’s aspiring homeowners say that they are not on track or will never own their own home.

For Asian aspiring homeowners, a unique barrier gains prominence: process complexity. Specifically, 35% of Gen Z and Millennial off-track Asian aspirants found that the homebuying process is simply too complicated to navigate. This rate is the highest of any group and significantly higher than the 21% of young White aspiring homeowners who indicated a similar concern. This research suggests that aspiring Asian homeowners may be disproportionately blocked by navigability of the system itself.

Though JBI’s 2050 Survey finds that young Blacks and Hispanics aspire to homeownership, entrepreneurship, and intergenerational wealth at high rates — in many cases surpassing their White peers — there is a clear gap between their aspirations and their realities. These same communities lack access: access to family financial resources, access to affordable credit, access to adequate income, and access to the knowledge needed to navigate a system not fully designed with them in mind.

Over 50% of Black Gen Z used a payday loan app or buy-now-pay-later product in the past year - vs. 11% and 28% of White Gen Z. This exposure did not start in adulthood. Black and Latino respondents are far more likely to have grown up in households where high-cost products were used by their parents.