Читать книгу Financial Adulting - Ashley Feinstein Gerstley - Страница 48

The distinction between equality and equity is extremely important in personal finance. Dasha describes equality as giving everyone the exact same personal finance resources and saying “I provided you with tools, now it's up to you to use them,” whereas equity is giving people the resources that apply specifically to their experiences and needs, especially those in communities that are impacted by systemic gaps and discrimination.

Dasha explained:

Black women live at the intersection of race and gender so we're always fighting two battles. 81% of Black mothers are the primary breadwinners of their homes.31 That means four out of five Black families depend on the paycheck of a Black woman to survive. The conversation around personal finance will be different for us.

When I first started as a financial educator, I'd hear other educators swear off credit and say “Credit is bad. If you can't afford it now, don't get it.” But this is a very privileged and judgmental perspective. For Black women, and Black people as a whole, credit can be a saving grace because it fills the gap when we're not paid fairly and our families haven't had the opportunity to build wealth. Instead of swearing it off, equity is teaching people how to understand it and leverage it if it's needed.

Because personal finance systems look different for each of us depending on our privilege, race, gender, and sexuality, we need more nuance and perspective in financial education.