“Black Men are Making it in America” finds sociologist Brad Wilcox, an AEI visiting scholar, who has just released his findings on the engines of economic success for black men in the US

Bad news for progressives. 

“Black Men are Making it in America” finds sociologist Brad Wilcox, an AEI visiting scholar, who has just released his findings on the engines of economic success for black men in the US

Key takeaways of the report include:

  • The share of black men who have made it into the middle class or higher as adults today stands at 57% and the share of black men who are poor has fallen from 41% in 1960 to 18% in 2016. 
  • Standard accounts of black men’s economic fortunes focus on three key institutions: education, work, and contact with the criminal justice system. Black men who have some college education, or are employed full time, are much more likely to succeed than those who are not to have reached by their fifties (at least) the middle class. 
  • The military, marriage, and the “Black Church” act as the engines of black men’s success. Black men who have served in the military, who frequently attended church or other religious services at a young age, and who are married, are more likely to reach the middle class or higher.