Report Finds Significant Financial Challenges Among Hispanics

Filene Research Institute
Wednesday, June 3, 2015

A new report from the Filene Research Institute finds that Hispanics -- even those with a greater degree of formal education -- continue to face significant financial challenges. The report surveyed Hispanics who have received at least some college education. Of this group, 40 percent can be classified as “financially fragile,” meaning that they could not come up with $2,000 if the need arose within the next month. Half of credit cardholders in the group reported behaviors that could damage their credit scores and increase interest rates, such as paying only the minimum payment and paying late. The report also found a lack of financial literacy within the group, which was 20 percentage points less likely than comparably educated whites to answer questions on basic financial literacy correctly.