President Joe Biden poses with valedictorian DeAngelo Jeremiah Fletcher and salutatorian Dwayne Allen Terrell II at Morehouse College’s commencement on Sunday, May 19, 2024, in Atlanta. (Alex Brandon / ASSOCIATED PRESS)
June 14, 2024 Story by: Editor
President Joe Biden has been intensifying his efforts to connect with Black voters as polls show a dip in his support within this key demographic. During a commencement speech at Atlanta’s Morehouse College on May 19, Biden highlighted several achievements he attributed to his administration.
“Today, record numbers of Black Americans have jobs, health insurance, and more wealth than ever,” Biden stated.
With both Biden and former President Donald Trump vying for Black voters in a tight presidential race, let’s examine the data supporting each of Biden’s claims.
Black Employment Under Biden
The White House directed PolitiFact to federal data indicating that Black employment reached a peak of just under 21 million in March 2023 during Biden’s presidency, though it slightly declined to 20.6 million by May 2024.
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| Source: Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis |
However, measuring “record numbers” of employed Black Americans isn’t the most insightful metric due to population growth over time. A more telling statistic is the employment-population ratio for individuals aged 20 and older. Under Biden, this ratio reached 63%, a peak not seen since the late 1990s when it hit 65%. This indicates that the percentage of Black men and women employed has returned to pre-pandemic levels and is approaching a historical high.
Health Insurance Coverage Among Black Americans
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| Note: Data is not available for 2020 due to disruptions from the coronavirus pandemic. Source: KFF analysis of the Census Bureau’s 2010-2022 |
Biden’s claim regarding health insurance is accurate both in raw numbers and percentages. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), which analyzed Census Bureau data, the uninsured rate among Black Americans fell to a record low of 10% in 2022. This marked a significant improvement from pre-2013 levels before the Affordable Care Act (ACA) expanded insurance coverage. Although the uninsured rate slightly increased during Trump’s tenure, it declined again under Biden in 2021 and 2022.
Black Wealth Gains and Disparities
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| Source: Federal Reserve |
Biden’s assertion that Black Americans now have “more wealth than ever” is partly true. The racial wealth gap data presents mixed results over the past 35 years. One measure is the median wealth ratio between Black and white families. In 2022, this ratio showed that for every $100 held by white families, Black families held $15.75—the highest since 2001 but still only about one-sixth of white family wealth. Here’s the full Federal Reserve report.
However, the absolute-dollar value difference in wealth between Black and white families widened in 2022. The median wealth for white families was $285,000, while Black families had just under $45,000, marking the largest disparity since 1989.
Jonathan Welburn, a senior researcher at the Rand Corporation, explained that addressing this gap would require trillions of dollars. While Black wealth has increased, attributing these gains directly to Biden’s policies is complex. Factors like net housing wealth, investment income, and business or self-employment growth contributed to Black income growth from 2019 to 2022. Additionally, expanded government benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic, approved by both the Trump and Biden administrations, played a significant role.While Biden’s claims on Black employment and health insurance hold up well, his statement about wealth is more nuanced. The wealth gap remains substantial, and various factors beyond his presidency have influenced the recent improvements. As the presidential race continues, these issues will remain critical in engaging Black voters. Source: POLITIFACT
