How long will it take Black Americans to catch up to their white neighbors’ quality of life?
The headline answer is 320 years, at least according to a new report by the McKinsey Institute for Black Economic Mobility. Specifically, that’s the estimate based on a combination of economic, health and other metrics for the 8.7% of Black Americans who live in what McKinsey dubs "stable rural counties,” where the catch-up period is longest.
The shortest catch-up time is 110 years, in "trailing rural counties” where residents of all races are struggling. In the "urban periphery” — the suburban counties that by most measures deliver the best quality-of-life outcomes for their Black residents — it’s 120 years. This is assuming things stand still for white residents, which outside of those trailing rural counties they probably won’t.
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