![Closing racial wage gap in just 20 occupations would boost millions of Black Americans](https://cbsnews3.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2017/02/03/c125094d-ac95-445f-9c59-018ea1866611/thumbnail/1200x630/1fe56bc1db1e13b173189f0f17b74af7/gettyimages-498934230.jpg)
Closing racial wage gap in just 20 occupations would boost millions of Black Americans
CBSN
About 2 million Black Americans could climb into the middle class if they were given equal wages as their White co-workers, a new study from corporate consulting firm McKinsey estimates.
Moving that many people to the middle class would benefit the larger U.S. economy as well as Black communities, said Shelley Stewart III, a McKinsey partner who led the study released Thursday. Newly minted middle-class families would have much less need for public assistance like food stamps and housing vouchers, thus reducing U.S. government spending on social service programs, Stewart said. Black households would earn an extra $220 billion in wages annually if the racial wealth gap were erased, and that in turn would generate more income for federal and state governments to tax, he added.![](/newspic/picid-6252001-20250216030556.jpg)
This story previously aired on Feb. 10, 2024. It was updated on Feb. 15, 2025. AMIE HARWICK (video): You can seek therapy to address an issue like depression, anxiety, a breakup. You can also seek therapy to be a better you! GARETH PURSEHOUSE (voicemail): I have so much I need to say. Please give me a chance to just say it. … Please (crying) please.
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