Building Financial Secure Futures for Boys and Men of Color

There is a national discussion taking place on the status of low-income boys and men of color and PolicyLink has been deeply engaged in this discussion -- lifting up data, tools, and successful program models and polices working in community to improve academic and social supports for this population. At the same time, PolicyLink is also working to improve access to financial security for low-income communities and communities of color.  Financial security refers to a household or individual's full set of financial resources -- assets such as savings for an emergency or retirement -- that are needed to have stability and access economic opportunity throughout the course of a lifetime.

Engagement with both issues on a national scale has surfaced the critical need to ensure that efforts to support boys and men of color include a framework that recognizes and reflects the role financial security plays in economic prosperity for this population and for all people.

National demographic trends indicate that people of color will soon become the majority. Yet historically, people of color have not been able to build generational wealth. A new brief from PolicyLink, Building Financially Secure Futures: An Approach for Boys and Men of Color (flip thru the pages below), underscores the growing racial wealth gap in the context of a changing America. It examines the economic and financial challenges facing boys and men of color over the course of a lifetime and lifts up asset-building strategies that can be integrated with targeted services for this group. It also highlights successful practices that are already addressing financial challenges at a community level for this population, and draws from these practices to inform policy recommendations that can be implemented at state and local levels.

Check out our webinar archive, "Understanding the Role of Assets in Efforts for Boys and Men of Color,"  which discusses this very important work and new brief.

Our next webinar is slated for May 19, please look out for that announcement soon.