White Families’ Wealth Put at 10 Times Blacks’ : Census: 1988 data shows also that married couples and the old are richer than single people and the young. Homes are the main asset.

White families were 10 times wealthier than black families in 1988, married couples had more money than single people and the old were richer than the young, a Census Bureau study said Thursday.

And, not surprisingly, the study found that the richest households held most of the nation’s wealth. Many people invested their resources in the family home.

The median household net worth--assets minus debts--was $35,752 in 1988. Half the households in the United States were worth more than that, and half were worth less.

Four years earlier, the median net worth was $37,012. But because of sampling errors, the numbers are essentially the same, said Judith Eargle, author of the report.

The report breaks American household incomes into five ranks. Families in the top 20% owned 44% of household wealth, families in the bottom 20% controlled only 7%.

Families in the top rank had a median net worth of $111,770 in 1988; the comparable figure was $4,324 for families in the bottom rank.

The median net worth for black households was $4,170 in 1988. That figure was $43,280 for white households.

Households headed by men had a median net worth of $13,053, those headed by women, $13,571.

Married couples had a net worth of $57,134, the highest of any type of household.

Households headed by someone age 65 to 69 were the richest, with median net worth of $83,478. The poorest were those headed by someone under age 35, with median net worth of $6,078.

Nearly two-thirds of the households owned homes, and those properties made up 43% of the nation’s household wealth. The next most important type of asset, businesses, was only 9% of wealth.