Non‑kin financial safety nets

Many Black Americans treat longtime friends and other non‑relatives as family and rely on these extended networks for financial help. Pew’s June 2025 survey of 4,271 Black adults shows that cash and assistance frequently flow through these broader ties, not only through birth or legal kin. — Recognizing non‑kin financial reciprocity changes how policymakers should think about poverty relief, emergency assistance, credit access and community resilience, because formal programs that assume nuclear family support may miss how resources actually move.