Black Americans given less access to credit than whites, report finds
Tuesday, April 15, 2008 at 01:48AM
TheSpook

PALM BEACH GARDENS, Fla. (MarketWatch) -- Credit is not color-blind, according to a new report that finds black Americans are offered less access to credit than their white counterparts. Yet obtaining credit is a key step up the ladder of financial success, most economists agree.

Building a credit history often starts with a credit card, but there are major differences in the amount of credit offered to similarly qualified applicants living in areas predominately inhabited by black people compared with applicants in predominately white neighborhoods, according to a report by Ethan Cohen-Cole, a financial economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.In his paper, "Credit Card Redlining," Cohen-Cole controlled for the influence of factors such as housing vacancy rates, crime, and general population demographics.

The paper follows a long line of studies showing that African Americans and Hispanics get the rawest end of the credit deal.

Among other research we've tracked over the years:

Article originally appeared on (http://brownwatch.com/).
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