Life
New Nielsen report confirms that African Americans upending stereotypes in Income, Media and Education
(PRNewswire) – Nielsen has released Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African American Consumers – the Untold Story, the fifth installment in its Diverse Intelligence Series. This new report is inclusive of insights about affluent African American consumers with annual household incomes of US$75,000 and higher and upends outdated stereotypes about African Americans, from education and income to media consumption and social engagement. The report was released at a press conference during the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.’s 45th Annual Legislative Conference in Washington, D.C.
Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African American Consumers – the Untold Story explores the evolution of upper-income African Americans as the population continues to grow and change rapidly.
At 45.7 million strong, the African American population, grew at 17.7 percent from 2000 to 2014 – 35 percent faster than the total population and double the 8.2 percent growth rate of the White population. The growth rate of the Black population is partly attributed to the surge in Black immigration from the Caribbean, Africa and some European countries, making the overall population incredibly diverse.
The number of foreign-born Blacks in the U.S. has quadrupled since 1980, accounting for 3.8 million of the nation’s Black population. Foreign-born Blacks are contributing to increased incomes in the African American community: their median household incomes are 30 percent higher than U.S.-born Blacks.
“The size and influence of affluent African Americans is growing faster than that of non-Hispanic Whites across all income segments, and the impact is being felt across industries,” said Cheryl Pearson-McNeil, Senior Vice President, U.S. Strategic Community Alliances and Consumer Engagement, Nielsen. “These larger incomes are attributed to a number of factors including youthfulness, immigration, historic educational attainment and constant, relevant dialogue across various social media channels that have an impact on African Americans’ decisions as brand loyalists and ambassadors. Savvy marketers are taking notice.”
“We believe this ‘untold story’ is both timely and critical to understanding African Americans in 21st century America,” said Reverend Jacques Andre DeGraff, Nielsen External Advisory Council Co-Chair. “Nielsen has been successfully providing insights and data for its clients for nearly 100 years. Now with this fifth anniversary milestone African American report, the launching pad for the Diverse Intelligence Series, multicultural communities can be confident that Nielsen captures the importance of every demographic.”
Highlights of Increasingly Affluent, Educated and Diverse: African-American Consumers – the Untold Story include:
– Black households US$70,000+ top a number of consumption categories by percentage of their annual expenditures
– Consumption habits outpace other demographics:
Each week, compared to all Americans, African American adults spend 42 percent more time watching TV; 13 percent more time on a PC; and 15 percent more time on a smartphone than any other demographic.
– Educational progression:
The rate of Black high school graduates enrolled in college increased in 2014 to 70.9 percent, exceeding the rate of all high-school graduates in the nation. Twenty three percent of African Americans with annual household incomes of more than US$100,000 search for jobs online compared to 14 percent of Whites), while 11 percent of African Americans with annual household incomes of more than US$100,000 take college courses online (compared to 5 percent of Whites).
