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https://www.essence.com/news/money-career/zillow-homeownership-racial-wealth-gap/
Family with one child viewing potential new home withsenior estate agent, father talking to agent while mother and son look out of window of spacious empty room, real estate, new life, beginnings By Jasmine Browley ·Updated February 28, 2024
The American Dream may be a bit more equitable than we thought, according to a new report from Zillow.
Homeownership, one of the most touted bastions of wealth-building, has notoriously been more challenging for Black Americans than white Americans. But new data from Zillow suggests the gap between the share of Black and white renting families that could comfortably afford a mortgage payment shrunk significantly during the pandemic.
The report points out that in 2022, nearly 40% of 138 million U.S. families didn’t own homes—of those, more than 6.3 million families were considered “income-ready” for a mortgage, or in other words ready to make a purchase if they chose to do.
Just 7.8% of Black families were income-ready for a mortgage, compared to 12.5% of white families — a gap of 4.7 percentage points. This gap has closed by significantly since it stood at 7.9 percentage points since 2012.
“Despite the significant decline in mortgage affordability in the past two years, millions of families who do not own their home have the means to afford the largest share of a homeowner’s cost — the mortgage,” said Zillow Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy in a news release. “While some families may choose to rent, many are simply constrained. It’s crucial to recognize the existence of additional barriers beyond monthly cost, including access to funds for a down payment and closing costs — as well as other barriers that significantly contribute to mortgage denials, like insufficient credit scores and lack of access to credit. These barriers especially impact people of color.”
While there has been improvement in closing the racial homeownership gap, it is still marginal. Across the U.S., homeownership among white families sits at 73% as compared to Black households (44%). This is also compounded by the pervasive racial wealth gap. As the Brookings Institute reports, between 2019 and 2022, for every $100 in wealth held by white households, Black households held only $15.
The post Zillow Says The Racial Homeownership Gap Narrowed Significantly In The Last Few Years—But It’s Now What You Think appeared first on Essence.
Family with one child viewing potential new home withsenior estate agent, father talking to agent while mother and son look out of window of spacious empty room, real estate, new life, beginnings By Jasmine Browley ·Updated February 28, 2024
The American Dream may be a bit more equitable than we thought, according to a new report from Zillow.
Homeownership, one of the most touted bastions of wealth-building, has notoriously been more challenging for Black Americans than white Americans. But new data from Zillow suggests the gap between the share of Black and white renting families that could comfortably afford a mortgage payment shrunk significantly during the pandemic.
The report points out that in 2022, nearly 40% of 138 million U.S. families didn’t own homes—of those, more than 6.3 million families were considered “income-ready” for a mortgage, or in other words ready to make a purchase if they chose to do.
Just 7.8% of Black families were income-ready for a mortgage, compared to 12.5% of white families — a gap of 4.7 percentage points. This gap has closed by significantly since it stood at 7.9 percentage points since 2012.
“Despite the significant decline in mortgage affordability in the past two years, millions of families who do not own their home have the means to afford the largest share of a homeowner’s cost — the mortgage,” said Zillow Senior Economist Orphe Divounguy in a news release. “While some families may choose to rent, many are simply constrained. It’s crucial to recognize the existence of additional barriers beyond monthly cost, including access to funds for a down payment and closing costs — as well as other barriers that significantly contribute to mortgage denials, like insufficient credit scores and lack of access to credit. These barriers especially impact people of color.”
While there has been improvement in closing the racial homeownership gap, it is still marginal. Across the U.S., homeownership among white families sits at 73% as compared to Black households (44%). This is also compounded by the pervasive racial wealth gap. As the Brookings Institute reports, between 2019 and 2022, for every $100 in wealth held by white households, Black households held only $15.
The post Zillow Says The Racial Homeownership Gap Narrowed Significantly In The Last Few Years—But It’s Now What You Think appeared first on Essence.
The opening of A New Kind of Wilderness is narrated by Maria Vatne. Maria is the mother of a family in Norway living outside of civilization. As she tells the story of her family you quickly draw the assumption that this is a documentary on living away from the hustle and bustle of society. Growing your own food, staying away from technology, and homeschooling your children. However, you are quickly shown still photos of Maria fighting cancer at home followed by pictures of her family without her.
A New Kind of Wilderness directed by Silje Evensmo Jacobsen delves more into the Payne family’s journey after a tragic loss to keep their way of life but also adapt to their current situation.
Maria was the main support financially for her family with the sale of her photography. Losing this source of income forces Nik to make the hard decision to sell the family farm. Nik and Maria had 4 children Ronja (from her previous relationship) Freja, Ulv and Falk. Ronja goes to live with her father shortly after her mother’s death. Nik is left with the daunting task of trying to homeschool 3 children, while providing a source of income for his family. He makes the decision to move closer into town. While Maria and Nik wanted to homeschool their children throughout their education, Nik quickly realizes he must send them to school at least 3 days a week so that he can work.
A New Kind of Wilderness showcases Nik’s struggle trying to maintain their way of life while also facing the reality of his situation. He doubts himself much more than he did when his wife was alive. He even grappled with the thought of moving the children back to the UK (Nik was raised there) so that he would have more access to childcare and better job opportunities.
In addition to Nik’s struggles a large part of the documentary is told through the eyes of Freja, Nik and Maria’s oldest. Maria’s death effects Freja the most out of Nik’s three children. You really see the stress she has worrying about her father, how they will live, and having to go to a regular school (to which she referred to as prison early in the film).
Her relationship with Ronja is also a source of stress as the two seemed to drift further apart. The documentary does a great job focusing on this relationship as it is the most complicated relationship of the film. Ronja also a child albeit a teenager deals with her mother’s death by pulling away from her family. Being around the other children reminds her too much of her mother. She is not oblivious to the fact that her sister Freja needs her, and you see her try to navigate being there for her sister while taking care of her own mental health.
A New Kind of Wilderness was an enjoyable documentary about the importance of family support. A heartwarming story that will make you fall in love with the Payne family. And while I don’t believe this was the story Jacobsen set out to make in the beginning, it came together in a heartfelt way.
- DIRECTOR(S)SILJE EVENSMO JACOBSEN
- PRODUCERMARI BAKKE RIISE
- EXECUTIVE PRODUCERKIM CHRISTIANSEN
- CINEMATOGRAPHYSILJE EVENSMO JACOBSENKARINE FOSSERLINE K. LYNGSTADAAS
- EDITORSKRISTIAN TVEITCHRISTOFFER HEIE
- COMPOSEROLAV ØYEHAUG
- SOUND DESIGNERYNGVE LEIDULV SÆTRE
- COLORISTTOM CHR. LILLETVEDT
- FEATURINGULV VATNE PAYNEFALK VATNE PAYNEFREJA VATNE PAYNERONJA BREDA VATNEMARIA GROS VATNENIKOLAUS ITHELL PAYNE
- PRODUCTION COMPANYA5 FILM
- YEAR2024
- CATEGORYFEATURE
- COUNTRYNORWAY
- LANGUAGEENGLISH, NORWEGIAN
- RUN TIME84 MIN
The post A New Kind of Wilderness: A Touching Documentary about Moving Forward After Loss appeared first on The Nerd Element.
Downtown Miami welcomed a new addition to its tech ecosystem Feb. 15 with the grand opening of The Source, a Black-owned tech center, according to the Miami Herald.
The project was led by Miami Gardens native Ted Lucas, founder of Slip-N-Slide Records, and his business partner Hilmon Sorey, a seasoned venture capitalist with investments in over 100 companies, including Uber and Lyft.
“If you look like me, I want to see how you are going to help my community,” Lucas said. “That’s very important to me.”
The Source aims to foster local tech talent and support students, startups, and small businesses through accelerators, workshops, and networking opportunities.
Lucas recognized Miami Mayor Francis Suarez’s efforts in attracting tech founders to Miami and engaged with him during the COVID-19 pandemic to explore ways for Black residents to actively participate in the burgeoning tech scene.
“It’s important to have a space like this because there are a lot of different organizations handling different aspects of the tech ecosystem,” said Stefan Owens, head of Growth and Investment at The Source. Miami-Dade Commissioner Oliver Gilbert III, who attended the grand opening, expressed confidence in The Source’s commitment to supporting startup founders and empowering others.
Through a partnership between Lucas’ Tech Knowledge organization and Florida Memorial University, The Source has supported tech boot camps, training local residents for future tech jobs. “Within the last two years, we’ve invested $500,000 in startup companies, and we’re just getting started,” Lucas said.
Desiray Malcolm, a single mother of two from Miami Gardens, who worked in warehousing, participated in a tech boot camp at Florida Memorial University. Later, she secured became an account manager at Kaseya.
“They say this is the beginning for The Source, but I feel like we’ve already taken off,” Malcolm said.
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