Watch Part 1A of the Black History Month Financial Literacy Series 3.0

The Black Financial Experience: Host Julia Dudley Najieb defines financial literacy and explores the reasons why Black people are not as financially literate as other Americans

By the Black Collab

This four-episode video and audio podcasts special explores the historical causes of the lack of financial literacy in the Black community, followed by today’s practical solutions to financial wellness and health.

In video podcast, Part 1A: Black History Month Financial Literacy Series 3.0, show host Julia Dudley Najieb defines financial literacy, dispels myths and reviews the troubling stats on financial literacy nationwide. She reviews the study from the 2019 TIAA Institute-GFLEC Personal Finance Index (P-Fin Index) which measures knowledge and understanding that enable sound financial decision making and effective management of personal finances among U.S. adults. The P-Fin Index is an annual survey developed by the TIAA Institute and the Global Financial Literacy Excellence Center, in consultation with Greenwald & Associates.

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The P-Fin Index measures eight key areas of personal finance knowledge: earning, consuming, saving, investing, borrowing and managing debt, insuring, comprehending risk and uncertainty, and go-to information sources. According to the report, African-American adults answered 38 percent of the P-Fin Index questions correctly, compared to 55 percent of white adults. African Americans scored highest in the areas of borrowing and debt management but scored lowest on questions relating to insuring. African Americans scored comparatively low on questions related to comprehending risk, investing, and identifying go-to information sources. The report states that low levels of financial literacy in insuring and comprehending risk are especially troubling.

Dudley Najieb also reviews Professor Emerita of Law The University of Dayton School of Law, Vernellia R. Randall's Dying While Black in America: Maslow's Hierarchy of Need and Racial Policy Making - Dying While Black in America which explains why Maslow's hierarchy of needs has a lot to do with the stagnation of financial literacy among Black people, intertwined with American societal racism.