What Does Network Science Have to Do with Closing the Wealth Gap?

In America, the average white family has 10 times the net worth of a Black family, according to a 2020 Brookings Institution report. Indian Americans are wealthy. American Indians are not. Some reasons for the gap are discussed here and here. Reducing the wealth gap requires effort, explains network science. It needs us to leave our comfort zone and reach out. But try we must, starting this Black History Month.

We are all in a human network, connected to some closely and others peripherally. Our network is clustered, not uniformly connected, and has disconnected parts. With the cluster of people who are closer to us mentally or physically, we interact more. We influence their thoughts, and they influence ours. We exchange knowledge and material possessions. It takes effort to reach out to people farther from us in our network. It takes extraordinary effort to find and reach those at the outer edges.

We had a major landscaping project to do around our house. To find a landscaper, we reached out to the familiar. In the process, thankfully, we stumbled upon the unfamiliar: A landscaping business owned by a Black person. Having them do our work has been a delightful experience all around. We got to know the business and their crew. They are proud of their work. Weeks later, they still come around to check on our landscaping though they have no such obligation. Sometimes, people just need a chance.

There has been a secondary benefit for connecting with a Black-owned business. Some members of the landscaping crew have now become a new destination for our giving. What is more, they are entirely charitable themselves and pass along our gifts to those in their network with even more need. Through them, we have connected with people we would not have reached otherwise.

If we understand network science, it is not difficult to see why it takes long to make progress on closing the wealth gap. Even under perfect conditions — meaning everyone is willing and interested in reducing the gap — reaching outside of our immediate neighborhood in the network is hard. It takes purposeful actions and effort. And a bit of luck.

Considering how long our society has excluded Black people from opportunities, because they are Black, isn’t now the time to go the other way and include them? If we do, maybe we can make a dent in the wealth gap.