AAPI Nexus: Policy, Practice and Community

This essay examines economic inequality and poverty among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and their participation in safety-net programs. Income and wealth disparities have increased dramatically over the last few decades, reaching levels not seen since the 1920s. One of the consequences has been an inability to ameliorate poverty, particularly among children. While Asian Americans have been depicted as outperforming all other racial groups, they have not surpassed non-Hispanic whites after accounting for regional differences in the cost of living. Moreover, a relatively large proportion of AAPIs is at the bottom end of the economic ladder. Many impoverished AAPIs rely on antipoverty programs to survive, but most still struggle because of a frayed safety net. Most experts believe that inequality will persist or worsen; consequently, it is likely that the absolute number of poor AAPIs will grow over the next quarter century. Addressing the problems of societal inequality and AAPI poverty will require political action to rectify underlying structural and institutional flaws, and a renewed commitment to ensuring all have a decent standard of living.