ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN DC Joshua Bone Professor Statler 21 March 2017

MAJOR PROBLEMS Discrimination Rising Housing Costs Lack of Employment Opportunities Weak educational prospects

INCOME DISPARITIES In 2007: lowest earners earned average income of $10,800 2014: 9,300 2014: Highest earners earned average of $487,000 D.C.’s lowest earners are residents of color, specifically African Americans

HOUSING PROBLEM Highest earners in DC live west of 16th Street in Georgetown and Woodley Park. Lowest earners live east of 16th Street in Columbia Heights and across the Anacostia River. Gentrification has hiked house prices and made many area unaffordable. The number of apartments renting for less than $800 a month has been reduced to 33,000 in 2012 from 60,000 in 2003

HOUSING PROBLEM As house prices increase, wages for low income residents are stagnant or decreasing. Spending more on rent= less money to spend on necessities ( food, healthcare, education, savings, etc.) Lower income residents live in areas that are far from transportation and healthy supermarkets. 2008-2012 Study:40 percent of D.C. households had a high housing cost burden and spent between 30-50 percent of earnings on housing costs.

HOMLESSNESS Homelessness rates in DC are higher than in New York and Boston January 2014 count: 7,748 Homeless individuals who are in a family: 3795

SOLUTIONS TO HOUSING PROBLEM D.C. government plans to add 13,900 affordable housing units by 2020 It costs about $283,600 to develop a new housing unit Proposed plan will cost D.C. $3.1 to $5.2 billion Roadblocks: Government funding, alternative payment plans, competition.

EDUCATION Low income students of color are unable to attend the best schools the DMV has to offer. D.C. Public Schools are lacking many resources that allow children to succeed. Before dramatic reform in 2007, D.C. public schools suffered from lack of funding and direction Lack of a proper education hinders students’ abilities to achieve employment opportunities and upwards economic mobility

EDUCATION 2016: Only 23.9% public school elementary and high school students reached the highest scores of 4 and 5 on their math exams. Despite reforms, National Research Council reports that that poor and minority students are still less likely to have a quality teacher in the classroom, perform at grade level, and a graduate high school in four years. 16 percent of Latinos, 26 percent of Blacks, 64 percent of Asians, and 73 percent of whites have earned a Bachelor’s Degree Solutions: initiatives focused on males of color, investments in more AP classes, and the introduction of more challenging, in-depth lesson plans

EMPLOYMENT A good education translates to good employment prospects Unemployment among Blacks in DC is highest at 13.6 percent Ward 8 is home to highest unemployment rate in the city. Job creation isn’t the problem. Discrimination is. Unrepresented communities are ignored by employers 2017 Fiscal Policy Report: job creation since Great Recession has been uneven for Black Americans Black degree-holding Washingtonians have lower chance than their peers of being hired.

FINAL THOUGHTS DC’s economy is NOT working for its long-term residents of color Gentrification is forcing residents of color out of D.C. due to high housing costs. D.C’s lack of competitive educational choices leaves low income residents without means of acquiring proper employment -Leads to a cycle of poverty and crime. The District CAN create an economy that works for everyone!

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