Lazetta spoke with CNBC's Michelle Fox about how the pandemic is financially effecting families of color
The economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic is hitting families of color particularly hard.
A large majority, 86%, of Latino households with children and 66% of Black households with children reported serious financial problems during the outbreak, including depleting savings, trouble paying credit card bills and other debt, and affording medical care, according to a September poll by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Meanwhile, 51% of White households with children reported the same.
A separate poll by the organizations found that 55% of Native American households also were facing significant money issues.
It’s a stark reminder that people of color have long faced systemic money issues, said certified financial planner Lazetta Rainey Braxton, New York-based co-founder and co-CEO of advisory firm 2050 Wealth Partners.
“We know that with the wealth gap that is in play, the wage gap that is in play, that any shocks are going to greatly shock the Black community because our starting point is so much worse than most populations,” said Braxton, chair of the Association of African American Financial Advisors and a member of the CNBC Financial Advisor Council.
When it comes to unemployment, the rate for Black workers in October stood at 10.8%. Hispanics had an 8.8% unemployment rate, Asians came in at 7.6% and White workers had a 6% unemployment rate, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.