WASHINGTON — Men of color would earn $170 billion more a year, if they reached the same education level as White men, according to a new White House report.
The report examined “opportunity gaps facing youth of color” and found stunning correlations between the educational and employment success of young men of color and how that success can directly impact the national economy.
Not only would closing the education attainment gap result in higher annual earnings for men of color 25-64 years-old, it would also increase the gross domestic product, the value of the production of goods and services, by 1.8 percent in the United States. The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that GDP decreased by an annual rate of 0.2 percent in the first quarter of 2015.
The high school graduation rate for Black students is 17 percentage points lower than their White classmates and only “28 percent of Blacks have a college degree by their late 20s, compared to nearly half of White men,” the report said.
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