IERE's work around racial wealth and economic equity demonstrates that inequality is not merely about access to resources and assets—rather, similar accomplishments in homeownership, income, and college education convert to financial gain differentially by race. This is because substantial racial wealth gaps among younger adults grow dramatically over the life course as white families leverage their head-start assets.
Findings like this emphasize the importance of policy changes rather than behavioral changes in the broader effort to build an inclusive economy. Increasingly, IERE has helped the assets field to move beyond a narrow focus on family wealth and toward broader analyses related to the impact of policies on the wealth-building opportunities of specific populations.
As a response to larger research findings, IERE has partnered with community organizations to perform evaluations of grassroots programs which aim to close the racial wealth gap.
IERE research in Racial Wealth and Economic Equity addresses many areas including the racial wealth gap, the racial wealth audit, retirement security, middle class security, children's savings accounts, financial education and empowerment.