•Press Release AAPI Inequality Poverty United States
Washington — A new analysis, published today by the Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR), challenges a very American myth — the model minority myth.
In A Brief Look at Low-Income Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Algernon Austin, Director, Race and Economic Justice at CEPR, reveals that within the Asian American and Pacific Islander population there is a wide range of incomes affected by many factors, from education to country of origin.
For instance, only 9.1 percent of the Indian American population is low-income, compared to 32.6 percent of the Burmese American population. The average income in the highest AAPI income quintile is 16 times the average income of the lowest income quintile.
“We want to challenge the model minority myth to reveal the significant numbers within the AAPI population with low incomes that could benefit from government assistance,” said Austin.
