New Federal Reserve data show that, despite wealth increases across the board during the COVID-19 pandemic, America’s racial wealth gap widened. Between 2019 and 2022, median wealth increased by $51,800, but the racial wealth gap increased by $49,950—contributing to a difference of $240,120 in wealth between the median white household and the median Black household.

While housing equity increased for Black households, other key wealth-building components like corporate and business equity did not. The United States still hasn’t overcome centuries of discrimination in public policy, financial practices, and societal norms that limited Black wealth accumulation, say Andre M. Perry, Hannah Stephens, and Manann Donoghoe.

In a new report, the authors shed light on the nation’s persistent racial wealth gap and call for structural changes to close it.