Black Adults Report Greater Financial Strain Under Current Presidential Administration, With College-Educated Adults Hit Hardest – AfroTech

Black adults’ financial confidence declined during President Donald Trump’s term.

This is reflected in findings released by the Federal Reserve Board through the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking (SHED), which examines the economic well-being of households across the nation. It also identifies potential financial risks.

The survey considers areas such as credit access and behaviors, savings, retirement, economic fragility, and education and student loans as well as shares an overview of findings as it relates to financial well-being, employment, care work, income, expenses, economic hardships, savings, banking, credit, and housing, according to the Federal Reserve Board (FRB).

Now in its 13th year, the survey collected responses from about 13,000 adults in October 2025, per the FRB. Overall, 25% of adults described the national economy as “good” or “excellent,” a 3% decrease from 2024 and a 24% decrease from 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Additionally, more than 2 out of 5 adults said they had “minor” or “major” concerns about finding or keeping a job, which was a 37% increase from 2024. For Black adults, the figure rose to more than 55%, regardless of education level.

Ismael Cid-Martinez, an economist with the Economic Policy Institute’s Program on Race, Ethnicity, and the Economy, noted in a blog post, “The Trump-Vance administration inherited a strong labor market with record employment and wage gains.”

However, after a year of what he calls “economic mismanagement,” Cid-Martinez suggests the survey is proof that workers are no longer confident in the job market and are worried about affordability.

Additionally, 73% of respondents said they were “doing okay financially” or “living comfortably” in 2025. However, there were “meaningful declines” when considering particular demographics such as low-income, young, and Black adults, according to the blog.

Specifically among Black adults, financial well-being declined nearly 5 percentage points to 60%, down from 68% in 2023 and marking the lowest level since 2015.

Furthermore, Black adults across a variety of education levels experienced declines in financial well-being in 2025, but those with a college education were the most impacted. Those with a bachelor’s showed a decline of nearly 7 percentage points under the Trump-Vance administration, the blog noted.

Black workers were also among the first groups to experience rising unemployment, with a 3 percentage point increase between 2024 and 2025, the biggest jump among all racial and ethnic groups, Cid-Martinez pointed out.

Overall, the number of Black adults who were more concerned about making ends meet increased 8 percentage points in the survey, up to 77.5%, compared to 69% the previous year. However, white, non-Hispanic adults showed declines in those concerns by nearly 1% between 2024 and 2025.

Cid-Martinez acknowledged the U.S. economy still has “structural inequities” that leave people of color more vulnerable.

“While the overall financial well-being of most adults held steady in 2025, the financial well-being of Black adults declined,” he wrote. “These individuals were also more likely to experience layoffs, leaving a higher share of Black adults and their families with increased fear of finding or keeping a job in 2025. The added employment uncertainty of Black adults also left them significantly more likely to report major concerns about making ends meet. The survey also shows that education largely failed to protect these individuals from the experience of increased economic fragility.”