On this AEI Events Podcast, a panel of scholars from AEI and the Institute for Family Studies presents their new research on “Black Men, Making It in America: The Engines of Economic Success for Black Men in America.” The researchers revealed good news: One in two black men in America are in the middle class, about half are middle or upper class by their 50th birthday, and only 18 percent are living in poverty. The study showed that education, military service, employment, church participation, and stable marriages were all crucial to black men’s economic success. The biggest caveat to such success, however, was contact with the criminal justice system.
A second panel emphasized the importance of using the study’s data to inform policies such as widening quality childhood education for low-income children and creating more intervention programs to help formerly incarcerated individuals find work and promote psychological stability. In addition, the…
