Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies Hispanics and the American Future (2006) / Chapter Skim
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5 Realms of Integration: Family, Education, Work, and Health
5 Realms of Integration: Family, Education, Work, and Health
Pages 75-112
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From page 75... ...
Freddy Rodriquez Hasta Cuando (1991) , Chapita/Bottlecaps (1990)
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From page 77... ...
FAMILY AND LIVING ARRANGEMENTS1 Hispanic families are often extolled as a source of strength and cohesion that derives from their "familism" -- a strong commitment to family life that values collective goals over individual well-being. Indicators of familism that differentiate Hispanics from whites include early childbearing and higher average fertility levels, large family households that often extend beyond nuclear members, and a greater overall tendency to live with kin rather than with unrelated individuals or alone.
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From page 78... ...
By 2000, approximately 14 percent of white families had a single female head, compared with about 20 percent of Mexican and Cuban families, 25 percent of Central and South American families, 36 percent of Dominican and Puerto Rican families, and 45 percent of black families.3 Because mother-only families are significantly more likely to be poor, this trend signals new vulnerabilities for the growing numbers of youths reared by single parents. Generational transitions also dilute familism, although apparently not uniformly among Hispanic subgroups.
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From page 79... ...
Mexican Americans not only are considered to be more familistic than other Hispanics, but also, given their large numbers, are far more likely to be paired with a member of the same ethnic group in marriage, cohabitation, or parenthood than are Puerto Ricans, Cubans, Central/South Americans, or other Hispanics.5 One possible explanation for this is that high levels of immigration, buttressed by residential segregation, help preserve Mexican familism in the face of erosion from other sources. Whether traditional Hispanic familistic orientations will persist beyond the third generation, whether they will take the same forms, and whether
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From page 80... ...
Whether and how Hispanics' ethnic mixing will redraw racial and ethnic boundaries in the United States is uncertain because the prevalence of intermarriage depends on even greater uncertainties, such as the effect of geographic dispersal on the incidence of mixed unions, future levels of immigration, and the way persons of mixed ancestry self-identify ethnically.7 Because of their sheer numbers and relatively high residential concentration, Mexican Americans are likely to retain a relatively distinct ethnic identity, although generational transitions will blur boundaries though unions with whites. Smaller in size, other Hispanic subgroups are less likely to sustain discrete identities over time because of their higher levels of ethnic mixing with other Hispanic groups and with blacks, which creates greater ambiguity about the place of their offspring in the evolving racial spectrum.
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From page 81... ...
In 2000 working-age Hispanics averaged nearly 3 years less of formal schooling than U.S.-born whites and blacks. Moreover, there are large disparities in educational attainment among Hispanic groups, mainly between the native- and foreign-born.
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From page 82... ...
. Not only do foreign-born Mexicans feature the lowest educational levels of any Hispanic subgroup, but the gap in completed schooling between the foreign and native born is larger for Mexicans than for Hispanics of other nationalities -- rising from 3 years in 1980 to 4.4 years in 2000 -- owing to substantial educational advances among the U.S.born rather than declining attainment of recent immigrants (see Figure 5-2)
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From page 83... ...
Department of Education showed that Hispanic kindergarten students trailed their Asian and other non-Hispanic classmates in both reading and math skills.12 Only Native American students had lower preschool reading literacy rates than Hispanics whose parents spoke little English (although Hispanic children exhibited lower math skills)
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From page 84... ...
Nationally, Hispanic students constitute approximately 15 percent of elementary school students -- and nearly 20 percent of all schoolage students -- yet only 4 percent of public school teachers are Hispanic.13 Although Hispanic elementary school children have made steady progress in reading and math, greater gains by other groups have sustained or in some cases widened Hispanic achievement gaps. A 20-year comparison of test scores reported in the National Assessment of Educational Progress shows that Hispanic students continue to lag behind whites in their scholastic achievement throughout middle and high school.14 Evident for all Hispanic subgroups, these gaps are decidedly largest for Mexican Americans, the fastest-growing segment of the elementary school population.
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From page 85... ...
educational system and the blind trust many Hispanic parents are willing to place in teachers' authority, Hispanic eighth graders are more likely than any other demographic group to express uncertainty about the classes they will take in high school.18 Mexican immigrant parents are especially likely to defer to teachers and administrators, rarely questioning their decisions. High school experiences are vital in shaping students' educational expectations and occupational aspirations.
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From page 86... ...
Fully 40 percent of Hispanic students attend high schools that graduate less than 60 percent of entering freshmen.24 Popular allegations that Hispanics value education less than do other groups are contradicted by evidence that large numbers of Hispanic high school students aspire to attend college. A study conducted by Public Agenda, a New York-based nonprofit public opinion research organization, found that 65 percent of Hispanic parents, compared with 47 percent of black and 33 percent of white parents, believed a college education is the single most important factor for economic success.25 Yet Hispanics trail all other groups in their ambitions to pursue 4-year college degrees because of their disadvantaged beginnings, limited home educational resources, concentration in scholastically weak high schools, and lack of concrete information about how to prepare for college.26 Compared with whites and blacks, more second-generation Hispanic youths are the first in their family to attend college.
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From page 87... ...
Compared with other high-achieving youths who enroll in 4-year institutions, Hispanics are less likely to receive baccalaureate degrees, unless they are among the select few who attend a highly selective college.34 ECONOMIC WELL-BEING As in so many other ways, Hispanics are highly diverse with respect to economic well-being. On the one hand, lacking the protections afforded by legal status, millions of undocumented Hispanics fill low-wage jobs; many
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From page 88... ...
.38 Also among men, the average employment rate for both Cubans and Mexicans (both foreignand U.S.-born) is similar to that for whites, but that for Puerto Rican men is appreciably lower, while that for island-born Puerto Ricans is similar to that for U.S.-born blacks.39 Birthplace differences in employment rates are much larger for Hispanic women than men.
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From page 89... ...
. Hispanics' lower levels of education and English proficiency largely explain their lower employment rates compared with whites.41 The 6 percentage point employment gap between native-born Mexican and white men would narrow to a mere 2 percentage points if their education and language skills were similar.
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From page 90... ...
But if Mexican and Puerto Rican women born abroad -- whose average earnings trail those of white women by 63 and 28 percent, respectively -- were as fluent in English and as well educated as white women, their earnings gaps would virtually disappear.44 Legal status also affects wages, with legal immigrants earning substantially more than those who are undocumented, and wage inequality, as discussed below.45 Thus unlike black men, for whom continuing discrimination in the labor market creates and augments earnings disparities, Hispanics could dramatically reduce their earnings gap with whites by closing the education gap and becoming proficient in English.46 This does not mean that Hispanics do not experience discrimination in the labor market. There is some evidence of differences in treatment at initial contact and interview and in outcomes based on accent and phenotype.47 To understand the origins of earnings differentials and accurately portray Hispanic socioeconomic progress over time, one must consider changes in the birthplace composition of the Hispanic workforce.
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From page 91... ...
Larger human capital gaps since 1980, especially among the foreign born, are responsible for the stagnation of Hispanic earnings through 2000, especially as the premium placed on work-related skills has continued to rise.50 Previous waves of predominantly unskilled immigrants, such as the Irish and Italians, enjoyed substantial intergenerational progress that ultimately enabled their descendants to join the middle class. For most, though, this process required two or three generations to accomplish; moreover, the skill endowments of the immigrant generation were instrumental in the labor market success of their children and grandchildren.51 Generational comparisons are particularly instructive for envisioning possible economic destinies for Hispanics.
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From page 92... ...
Earnings deficits for Puerto Rican men were 46 percent for the first generation, 30 percent for the second generation, and 16 percent for later generations. Reflecting their higher-class origins at arrival, Cuban immigrants' 31 percent initial deficit disappeared by the second generation.52 The apparent slowdown in Hispanic socioeconomic progress after the second generation may be more imagined than real because it is impossible to match immigrant parents and grandparents of the first generation with their descendants in later generations.53 In fact, substantial educational and earnings gains are evident when second-generation Hispanics are compared with their third-generation descendants 25 years later.
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From page 93... ...
The evidence is clear as to improvement in educational attainment and earnings growth between first- and second-generation Hispanics, both absolutely and relative to whites. But the evidence regarding progress between the second and third generations, and especially beyond the third, is less clear, because educational gains between the second and third generations are not matched by commensurate progress in earnings, particularly among younger Mexicans.58 Less debatable is that deficiencies in education and language skills will remain a formidable obstacle to the labor market success of Hispanics, especially for immigrants, and will continue to hamper their economic progress -- perhaps even more so in the years ahead than in the past -- because of the higher premium placed on skills and because bluecollar jobs that traditionally served as gateways to the middle class have all but vanished.
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From page 94... ...
50,000 (2002 40,000 Income 30,000 ual Ann 20,000 Real 10,000 0 Mexican Puerto Cuban Dominican Central South Non-Hispanic Non-Hispanic Rican American American Black White National Origin or Race/Ethnicity FIGURE 5-4 Median total household income by Hispanic national origin or race/ ethnicity and generation. NOTES: Includes only households whose head is under age 65.
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From page 95... ...
In 1972, the median black household income was 77 percent that of whites, compared with 90 percent in 2003.64 Because these comparisons do not separate out native- and foreign-born householders, it is difficult to distinguish changes related to increased numbers of low-skill immigrants from those related to business cycle variations. Yet the Survey of Income and Program Participation, one of very few surveys that record annual variation in income, poverty, and wealth, indicates a convergence of wealth between native- and foreign-born Hispanics between 1996 and 2001.65 Hispanics compensate for low household income through two strategies: income pooling based on extended living arrangements and reliance on public benefits (see Figure 5-5)
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From page 96... ...
Although secondgeneration Puerto Ricans rely less than the first generation on income from public benefits, even those born on the mainland depend more on this source of household income compared with other Hispanic subgroups-indeed, at rates more similar to those of blacks. Puerto Ricans' high rates of welfare participation reflect their elevated poverty rates.
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From page 97... ...
Child poverty rates of Mexicans and Central Americans approached the Hispanic population average -- 28 and 24 percent, respectively -- which is well above the 17 percent overall U.S. poverty rate for those under 18.72 Elevated Hispanic child poverty rates are particularly disturbing because the relatively young age structure of the population implies large and growing numbers of the youthful poor, and because poverty magnifies the challenges of assimilation and integration for the burgeoning second generation.
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From page 98... ...
Moreover, except for Puerto Ricans and Cubans, foreign-born Hispanics rely less on Social Security than do whites and blacks because they are less likely to qualify for the benefits even if they work beyond the required 40 quarters. Until recently, the sectors in which many elderly Hispanics worked, such as agriculture and household service, were not covered by Social Security, which accounts for 42 percent of household income for elderly Central and South American immigrants, but close to 60 percent for blacks and island-born Puerto Ricans.74 Elderly immigrants who have not completed the required 10 years in covered jobs to qualify for Social Security benefits or whose benefits are low because of a lifetime of low-wage work often qualify for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
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From page 99... ...
Because the dispersal of Hispanics to new destinations is a relatively recent phenomenon that involves many recently arrived, low-skill immigrants (see Chapter 4) , it is conceivable that their lower average home ownership rates will improve over time as they acculturate in their new locales.83 HEALTH STATUS AND ACCESS TO CARE Like other forms of human capital, health status -- both physical and psychological -- is an asset that requires investments for improvement and maintenance.84 In addition to nutritious food, regular exercise, and a toxinfree environment, health status depends on a variety of circumstances-some unique to Hispanics and others shared with populations of similar socioeconomic status, some linked to behavior that compromises or promotes health, and others associated with access to care.
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From page 100... ...
Precise findings differ, but most studies show that foreignborn Mexicans, Central Americans, and South Americans are most likely to experience this advantage. One factor that contributes to their lower mortality is that healthier people are more likely to migrate than the sickly, 1,600 Men 1,400 Women 1,200 ersonsP 1,000 100,000 800 per 600 Deaths 400 200 0 Whites Blacks Ricans Cubans Hispanics Mexicans Hispanics All Puerto Other Race, Hispanic Origin, and Nativity FIGURE 5-6 Age-adjusted mortality for whites, blacks, and Hispanics by sex, 2001.
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From page 101... ...
fared better than blacks but worse than whites.86 Experts often invoke protective cultural and social behaviors of immigrants to explain their advantage in birth outcomes relative to their U.S.born counterparts. However, since second-generation Hispanic women also have relatively favorable birth outcomes compared with white women of comparable socioeconomic status, cultural explanations do not suffice.
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From page 102... ...
Generational differences in diet are mirrored in the prevalence of overweight adolescents, as about one in four first-generation adolescent Hispanics is at risk of being overweight, compared with about one in three second- and third-generation youths.90 Several other differences in the health circumstances of Hispanic youths are worth noting. With the exception of Puerto Ricans, Hispanic youths have low rates of asthma, the major chronic disease of childhood.
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From page 103... ...
Access to Quality Care Hispanics face a variety of financial and nonfinancial obstacles to obtaining appropriate health care. Low rates of insurance coverage are perhaps most notable, but limited access to providers, language barriers, and uneven quality of care exacerbate inequities in health outcomes between Hispanics and whites and between native- and foreign-born Hispanics.
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From page 104... ...
The federal welfare reforms of 1996 placed further limitations on access to 100 90 y 80 Other 70 Categor Medicaid/State Children's 60 Health Insurance Program Each 50 in Employer-Sponsored 40 30 Uninsured ercentageP 20 10 0 Whites Blacks RicansCubans Hispanics Mexicans Hispanics All Puerto Other Race, Hispanic Origin, and Nativity FIGURE 5-8a Health insurance coverage for white, black, and Hispanic children, 1997 to 2001. SOURCE: 1997 to 2001 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey.
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From page 105... ...
public health insurance programs for all recent legal immigrants.96 General confusion about how the new laws affected immigrants triggered declines in their overall utilization of public insurance programs. Partly because of low rates of health insurance coverage, Hispanics are less likely than whites to have a usual source of care or regular health care provider, which in turn restricts their access to more specialized forms of care.
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From page 106... ...
In 2001, just 75 percent of Mexican and 79 percent of Puerto Rican women received prenatal care in their first trimester, compared with 92 percent of Cuban and 89 percent of white women. Hispanicwhite differences in childhood vaccination rates are trivial.98 Evidence on the quality of care received by Hispanics is inconclusive, partly because current assessments are based on populations that are not truly representative, such as low-income Medicaid recipients, and partly because results from satisfaction surveys are inconsistent.
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From page 107... ...
If the most successful thirdgeneration Hispanics "opt out" of Hispanic identity, as available data suggest, economic progress for the third and later generations may well be understated. Trends in Hispanic home ownership and median household income signal a growing middle class, although the dollar growth of Hispanic household assets is small compared with that recorded by white households.100 Variation in financial status by immigrant and citizenship status, by age (favoring middle-aged over young householders)
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From page 108... ...
12 U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, 1999.
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From page 109... ...
42 This is not the case for black men, however, as their 15 percentage point employment deficit would shrink to only 13 percentage points if their human capital endowments were comparable to those of whites. 43 The employment gaps for Puerto Ricans and Dominicans may be due, in part, to their concentration in goods-producing industries in the northeast that have been hurt by deindustrialization, and in part to the fact that their employment patterns are more similar to those of blacks than to those of other Hispanic groups.
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From page 110... ...
76 Using the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finances, Wolff, 2004, estimates Hispanic median net worth at 3 percent of the white median for 2001, but Kochhar, 2004, estimates the 2002 median gap at 9 percent -- $8,000 versus $89,000-based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation. One source of the difference is that Wolff excludes equity in vehicles and other consumer durables from his estimate of wealth.
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From page 111... ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is currently lowering the threshold blood lead level for intervention from 10 µg/dL to 5 µg/dL. More than one-fourth of preschool-age children and one-fifth of elementary school children of Mexican origin would meet the revised threshold.
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