Joachim O. Hero, MPH, Douglas J. Hall, PhD, and Shelley Geballe, JD, MPH

Despite the state's apparent overall prosperity, Connecticut's ranking in the latest Family Assets Scorecard fell from an A to a C since the 2005 Scorecard, reflecting wide disparities in assets by race, ethnicity and gender; high levels of debt; declining homeownership; and growing numbers of households with no employer-provided health insurance. Despite losing ground, Connecticut continues to rank well compared to other states on some measures, ranking fifth among states in net worth of its households and fourth in the concentration of workers with college degrees. However, other measures show that a lack of assets among many families, high levels of debt, and racial disparities threaten the state's overall quality of life and economic security. One in five households in Connecticut is asset poor, meaning they do not have sufficient resources to survive at the poverty level for three months without any income.

Connecticut's racial disparities in assets are among the greatest in the nation. Minority households are much less likely to be homeowners and are more likely to have low assets, as compared to white households. For example, the median white household in Connecticut is nearly 27 times wealthier than the average minority household. (December 2007)

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