Optimism in the Face of Structural Adversity

Our survey confirms that Black Millennials are more optimistic about their households’ financial future than their White contemporaries (46% vs. 31%), despite earning less, having less savings, and receiving far less family financial support. This finding is consistent with a well-documented pattern in research on the financial psychology of the Black community: one that finds a propensity toward optimism in the face of structural adversity and an upward-mobility framework that measures progress against one’s own starting point rather than the progress of peers from other races.