The Pew Hispanic Center touts a new survey of more than 2,000 Hispanic youths as a window into the immigrant experience.
This morning, the Pew Hispanic Center released the results of what it describes as a major study of the lives of young U.S. Latinos ages 16–25, the largest youth minority group in the country. The study should be of particular interest to Californians given that Latinos make up a whopping 42 percent of the youth demographic in the Golden State, second only to New Mexico. “Never before in this nation’s history has a minority group made up such a large share of the youngest Americans,” says Pew Hispanic Center director Paul Taylor. “We do our best to shed light on one of the great questions: What’s the process by which immigrants come to our county and become Americans?”
Although some of the survey’s findings—gathered from more than 2,000 Latino youths from around the country—were unsurprising, others painted an intriguing picture. For example, while young Hispanic women have the highest rate of teen pregnancy of any minority group (one in four becomes a mother by age 19), 75 percent of those polled said teen motherhood is bad for society. And while 26 percent of first-generation immigrant Hispanic women aged 18-19 already had children, for the second generation it dropped to 16 percent—then rose again with the third generation to 21 percent.
On the issue of crime and gang involvement, the survey found that native-born Hispanic youth were twice as likely to become gang-involved compared to newly immigrated youth. “Native born, a large portion say there are gangs in their high school,” says Mark Lopez, associate director for the Pew Hispanic Center. “Foreign-born maybe haven’t gotten the lay of the land yet.”
In terms of their economic wellbeing, 23 percent lived below the poverty line in 2008—fewer than black youths (28 percent) but more than whites (13 percent). Latinos are also more likely to drop out of high school than youths of other ethnic backgrounds; 17.2 percent had dropped out, compared to 8.2 of youth overall. At the same time, 89 percent say that a college education is essential to success, and 85 percent said having a successful career was their highest priority. Seventy-four percent of those who said they had not completed their education said they stopped in order to help their families.
Taylor says the survey will be included in an upcoming website that takes a comprehensive look at the so-called “millennial” Hispanics’ experience in the U.S.
To read the full results, go to the Pew Hispanic Center website.
