Black financial insecurity worsened in 2025 as job losses, employment anxiety, and pressure on household budgets hit Black families harder than other racial groups. A new Economic Policy Institute study breaks down these troubling findings.
The findings come from the Federal Reserve’s annual Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking, which gathered responses from nearly 13,000 adults in October 2025. Across the country, 73 percent of adults described themselves as either “doing okay” or “living comfortably,” the same overall share recorded one year earlier. That stability disappeared once researchers separated the results by race.
According to the Federal Reserve’s financial health breakdown, only 60 percent of Black adults reported that they were “doing okay” or “living comfortably” financially. By comparison, the figure reached 79 percent among White adults, 62 percent among Hispanic adults, and 82 percent among Asian adults. The share for Black adults fell five percentage points from 2024, while the national figure remained unchanged.
EPI’s review of historical survey results found that the 60 percent figure was the lowest recorded for Black adults since 2015. It also marked a steep retreat from 2023, when nearly 68 percent of Black respondents gave a positive assessment of their financial position. Much of the latest decline came from people who said they were “living comfortably,” with that share falling from 23 percent in 2024 to 19 percent in 2025. Those numbers place Black financial insecurity near its worst level in a decade.
A college education did not provide the protection many households might have expected. According to EPI’s education breakdown, the percentage of Black adults with a bachelor’s degree or higher who were “doing okay” or “living comfortably” dropped from 80.44 percent in 2024 to 73.50 percent in 2025. That decline of nearly seven percentage points was larger than the decrease recorded among Black adults with less formal education.
The decline among college graduates gives this story a deeper meaning. Education can improve earning potential, but the data suggests that credentials alone cannot erase unequal exposure to layoffs, hiring slowdowns, high living costs, or broader labor market discrimination. Black financial insecurity is not limited to people without degrees or professional experience. It is reaching households that followed the traditional path toward economic stability and still found that stability slipping.
Job losses were one of the clearest warning signs. The Economic Policy Institute’s analysis found that 12.69 percent of Black adults reported experiencing a layoff or job loss in 2025, up from 9.99 percent in 2024. That was the largest increase among the racial and ethnic groups examined. Black adults were also more than twice as likely to report a layoff as White adults, whose rate increased from 4.73 percent to 5.38 percent.
That employment instability quickly became a family concern. EPI found that 55.12 percent of Black adults said “finding or keeping a job” was at least a minor concern for them or their families in 2025. One year earlier, the figure stood at 46.35 percent. Hispanic adults reported a similarly high level of concern at 54.87 percent, while 32.47 percent of White adults expressed the same worry.
The national data confirms that workers across the economy were feeling less secure. According to the Federal Reserve’s 2025 household report, 42 percent of all adults considered “finding or keeping a job” a minor or major concern, compared with 37 percent in 2024. The survey also recorded a small increase in layoffs, fewer voluntary resignations, and fewer people changing jobs. Those trends point to a market where workers may be holding onto existing positions because new opportunities feel harder to secure.
For Black households, the consequences extended beyond the workplace. EPI reported that 77.47 percent of Black adults were at least somewhat concerned about making ends meet in 2025, an increase from 69.03 percent the previous year. The figure for Hispanic adults reached 77.29 percent. Meanwhile, the share of White adults reporting the same concern declined slightly, moving from 56.15 percent to 55.25 percent.
That gap shows why broad statements about a stable economy can feel disconnected from daily life. A household can technically remain employed while still struggling with rent, food, transportation, child care, insurance, debt, and emergency expenses. When job security begins to weaken at the same time, financial pressure can move from manageable to overwhelming with little warning. Black financial insecurity therefore reflects more than income alone. It captures the shrinking distance between a family and a serious financial setback.
The findings also complicate political messaging that treats stock market performance as proof that families are thriving. EPI framed its report as a warning about the direction of the Trump economy, arguing that affordability cannot be separated from employment, wages, and income. The organization maintains that a stronger wage floor, greater union participation, and economic policies designed to reduce inequality are necessary to improve household stability.
The Federal Reserve survey does not show every American household moving backward. It shows something more uneven. National financial assessments held steady, while Black adults experienced falling comfort, higher layoff exposure, and greater fear about paying their bills. That divide is the central issue. Black financial insecurity cannot be solved by pointing to averages that hide which families are absorbing the greatest losses.
