Black Tax: Unnecessary Burden or Sheer Brotherhood?
Is black tax what most paint it to be — or is it an unnecessary burden cloaked in brotherhood?
Being African means several things. More often than not, it means growing up to see parents and loved ones make untold sacrifices for you. But it also means knowing that the moment you start earning an income, your parents–and in many cases, your siblings become your responsibility.
But is it right? Are children supposed to be their parents’ retirement plan?
It depends on who you ask.
The term, Black tax originated in South Africa and means money that Black folks and professionals provide to their family every month outside of their own living expenses.
To be fair, black tax is not necessarily an African thing. The global remittance market size stood at $701.93 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2030.
What’s even more fascinating is that given how expensive remittance is in several regions, so many prefer informal channels to the formal ones, effectively transferring funds through friends and acquaintances with accounts in both countries at cheaper rates.
As can be seen above, India leads the list as a result of its large diaspora and overseas expats population, followed by China and others.
A close look at the table above reveals something–the vast majority of the top recipients of remittances are developing countries.
On the other hand, International remittances have become a major part of developing economies. In 2015 for example, $441 billion went to developing nations. At some point remittances to Nigeria brought the most money into the Nigerian economy.
Interestingly, a report by the Institute of Policy Studies shows that 37 percent of Black families in the US have debts that are equal to or greater than their assets.
This begs the question: Is black tax an unnecessary burden or just sheer brotherhood?
At what point does it get too much? Are Africans overdoing it?
Well, it depends on who you ask. To the African, nothing done for one’s family is too much and there’s hardly any feeling better seeing one’s parents pray for them after they’ve gifted them something.
This is why at Afriex we’re helping Africans send and receive funds at affordable rates and in minutes. You can create an account here
