A Well Targeted Federal Renter Credit Could Help Reduce Wealth Gaps

While lawmakers often speak about income inequality, less attention is paid to wealth inequality. Wealth is distributed even more unequally than income in the U.S. in ways that reinforce racial divides, leave some households with too little to handle unexpected expenses, and enable some households to pass down enormous intergenerational wealth. A renter tax credit is one tool lawmakers can use to reduce wealth inequalities both within racial and ethnic groups and between these groups. As we show in our new analysis, Black and Hispanic households are more likely to be renters and hold less wealth than white households.