1. ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN DC
Joshua Bone
Professor Statler
21 March 2017

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

3. 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

6. 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

8. 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.
Study:40 percent of D.C. households had a high housing cost burden and spent between percent of earnings on housing costs.

9. 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

10. 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.

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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.

16. 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!

17. WORKS CITED
Stein, Perry. "D.C. Has a Bigger Income Disparity than Any State in the Country." The Washington Post. WP Company, 24 June Web. 15 Mar
Tuths, Peter. A City Breaking Apart: The Incomes of DC's Poorest Residents Are Falling While Economic Growth Is Benefiting Better-Off Residents. Rep. Washington, DC: DC Fiscal Policy Institute, Print.
Holmes, Natalie, and Alan Berube. "City and Metropolitan Inequality on the Rise, Driven by Declining Incomes | Brookings Institution." Brookings. Brookings, 15 Sept Web. 16 Mar
"Story Map Journal." Story.maps.arcgis.com. ESRI, n.d. Web. 15 Mar
Zippel, Claire. "DC’s Housing Affordability Crisis, in 7 Charts." Greater Greater Washington. Greater Greater Washington, 30 Apr Web. 15 Mar
Tatian, Peter. Affordable Housing Needs Assessment for the District of Columbia. Rep. Washington, DC: Urban Institute, Print.
Boggs, Rodd. Education Reform Issues in Washington DC. Rep. no. 4. Vol. 38. Washington DC: American Bar Association, Print.
Chandler, Michael Alison. "Report: Despite D.C. School Reforms, Disparities Persist in System." The Washington Post. WP Company, 03 June Web. 16 Mar
Izadi, Elah. "DCentric." DCentric RSS. American University, 5 Dec Web. 17 Mar
Special, James Wright. "Employment Gap Continues to Widen for Blacks." Afro. AFRO American Newspapers, 09 Mar Web. 17 Mar
Demby, Gene. "Racial Disparities In Wages Boil Down To Discrimination." NPR. NPR, 23 Sept Web. 19 Mar