Black Women and Money

Last night I read a really disturbing article entitled, Is the Average Single Black Woman Really Worth Just $5?.  Just the title was enough to cause my eyes to pop wide open and my mouth to drop.  Imagine what it did to my stomach and ultimately my spirit.  Needless to say, I didn’t sleep very well last night.  So, I wake this morning and included that article in my meditation.

The first thing that caught my attention were the words black, woman, worth and $5?  Then as I strung the words along to form the question, I was appalled.  I thought to myself, how DARE they put a ‘worth’ on a black woman..any woman for that matter.  My first inclination was to move on to the next article; however, the article kept calling for my attention.  So there I was reading, fuming and then understanding.  Understanding that if we (women of color) do not know our worth, neither will anyone else.  And if we do not pull ourselves from under the burden of debt, neither will anyone else.

The article was referencing the difference in money earned in the workforce.  However, I was caused to research a bit more.  What I found will most likely not be surprising to read.  According to a new study by ING, as much as 68 percent of Black women say they buy what they want in a good or bad economy.  They said they shop to cheer themselves up and that they see themselves as trendsetters.  The majority of those items are purchased with credit cards.  More than half of the Black women surveyed say they’ve lent $500 or more to a friend or to family in the last year; one-third say they’ve loaned as much as $1,000.  I do understand that as black women, we have a strong sense of obligation to our family and community; however, this sense of obligation adversely effects out financial stability.  I call this a financial perfect storm.

Many of us were not taught good financial habits.  The African-American community spends more than any other ethnic group.  For many Blacks, budgeting is either not a high priority or is not done correctly.  We have been taught to consume, not to save.  A few years ago, I read a book, Girl, Get Your Money Straight: A Sister’s Guide to Healing Your Bank Account and Funding Your Dreams in 7 Simple Steps by Glinda Bridgforth.  The tips in that book made me take a look at myself AND my spending.  I found that I was spending wayyyyy to much on dining out and entertainment (my way of cheering myself up).  I realized that if I continued to spend so carelessly, I would find myself caught up in that ‘financial perfect storm’.

Light, love, and financial freedom,

J-licious

© Copyright 2010/04/07  Jacque Keil All Rights Reserved

Tags: economy, financial stability, single black woman, woman worth, women of color