Report adds to debate on Hispanic progress

Margaret L. Usdansky

08/23/1993

USA Today

FINAL

Page 06A

By almost any measure, from education to poverty to jobs, the USA's 22 million

Hispanics are less well off than non-Hispanics. And they are especially

disadvantaged compared with non-Hispanic whites.

But today's Census Bureau report on Hispanics is sure to fuel the growing debate

over whether they lag behind because so many are recent immigrants, or because

U.S.-born Hispanics aren't catching up. Hispanics are expected to outnumber

blacks and become the nation's largest minority group by 2010.

Some social scientists say the evidence suggests Hispanics are becoming

entrenched among the disadavantaged, permanently behind non-Hispanics in the

USA. Others say Hispanics - about 40% of whom are immigrants, and almost

30% of whom are children of immigrants - simply haven't had enough time to

close the gap.

"There's some conflicting evidence," says Jeffrey Passel, a demographer with the

Urban Institute. "The second generation appears to be improving, but there are

some hints that the third generation isn't making gains above that."

This murkiness stems from more than differences of opinion. Research has not

kept pace with the rapid growth of the Hispanic population, which rose by 53%

during the 1980s, driven largely by immigration.

In fact, most of the debate over Hispanic progress has revolved around studies of

Mexican-Americans, who account for almost two of every three Hispanics in the

USA. The Census Bureau's report, based on a survey of more than 57,000

Hispanic households, doesn't distinguish between immigrants and U.S.-born

Hispanics.

The report examines five Hispanic groups: Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans,

Central and South Americans and "Other Hispanic," a catch-all category

including Hispanics from Spain and those who don't fit into other categories.

How groups of Hispanic immigrants do in the USA closely reflects the resources

immigrants bring with them, says Michigan State University sociologist Ruben

Rumbaut.

Newcomers from many countries that have contributed heavily to recent

immigration - including Mexico, El Salvador and Guatemala - tend to be less

educated and less affluent than most Americans.

Smaller numbers of recent arrivals from countries like Bolivia, Chile and

Venezuela tend to be highly educated professionals. But the Census Bureau

counts them under the broad category of South and Central Americans, masking

those groups' achievements.

So to answer the question of how well different Hispanic groups are doing in the

USA, Rumbaut says, it is necessary to consider where they started.

Salvador Lazaro, a Mexican immigrant who came to Los Angeles 13 years ago,

says his story is "one in a million." But it illustrates just how well some

immigrants have done.

Lazaro, 42, who has a sixth-grade education, started as a busboy at Frank's

Charbroiler diner. After working for two owners, he was able to save enough to

buy the restaurant.

Today, he and his wife, Gloria, put in 14-hour days. Gloria says her goal is to

make sure her children don't have to work as hard as she and Salvador. "I tell

them all the time that if they go to school and get college degrees, they won't

have to struggle like we did."

Rumbaut says there is evidence that second-generation Mexicans make signicant

progress, compared with their immigrant parents. Many European-immigrant

groups now considered part of the "mainstream" lived in this country for four

generations before doing as well as the average American, he says.

But Rumbaut says he is disturbed by recent studies that suggest some second-

and third-generation Hispanics do less well in school than Hispanic children who

came to this country as immigrants. Whether Mexicans and Central and South

Americans will catch up, as many Cubans have, Rumbaut says: "It's unclear."

Author and researcher Linda Chavez has no such hesitation. Her studies show

that young, U.S.-born Mexican-American men are almost as likely to complete

high school as their non-Hispanic, white counterparts. Although they lag behind

in college education, Chavez says she believes they are catching up.

The problem with the Census Bureau's report, she says, is its failure to

distinguish between immigrants and U.S.-born Hispanics.

"Because there's this constant flow" of new immigrants, Chavez says, "the

snapshot looks the same every year. As every group does move up the ladder, a

new group moves in to take their place."

University of Arizona political scientist John Garcia disagrees, saying there is "a

legacy of Mexican-origin kids doing poorly in school regardless of whether

they're foreign-born or native (U.S.) born."

He blames, in part, the growing segregation of Mexican-American students in

predominately Hispanic schools, where low expectations reinforce poor

performance.

If the socioeconomic gap between Mexican-Americans and non-Hispanics has

been closing at all, he says, "it's been very slow."

Jorge del Pinal, head of the Census Bureau's Ethnic and Hispanic Branch, says

the debate over Hispanic progress is emerging as the central controversy in

Hispanic scholarship.

While the view that Hispanics are not closing the gap is probably more prevalent

than the belief that they are, del Pinal says, "Probably, the truth is somewhere in

between." Contributing: Jonathan T. Lovitt

Hispanics in the USA Hispanics lag behind non-Hispanics, particularly white

non-Hispanics, in education, income, employment and home ownership, a new

Census Bureau report shows. About 40% of the 22.1 million Hispanics in the

USA are immigrants. Hispanics can be of any race. How Hispanics are faring:

Mexicans largest Hispanic group Percentage of Hispanics who say they are:

Mexican 63.6% Central, South American 14.0% Puerto Rican 10.6% Cuban

4.7% Other Hispanic 7.0%

Puerto Ricans poorest group Those under the poverty level: White non-Hispanics

9.4% Non Hispanics 12.8% All Hispanics 28.7%

Puerto Rican 39.4%

Mexican 29.5%

Central, South Amer. 24.6%

Cuban 18.0%

Other Hispanic 20.6%

Puerto Rican households earning the least White non-Hispanics $32,311 Non

Hispanics $30,706 All Hispanics $22,688 Cuban $26,593 Central, South Amer.

$24,157 Mexican $22,477 Puerto Rican $17,967 Other Hispanic $27,110

Mexicans least educated group Education level of adults 25 and older:

Less than High school, Bachelor's

5th grade some college or more White non-Hispanics .9% 83.4% 23.2% Non

Hispanics 1.4% 81.5% 22.3% All Hispanics 11.8% 52.6% 9.3%

Central, South Amer. 8.1% 61.7% 16.0%

Cuban 6.5% 62.0% 18.4%

Mexican 15.2% 45.2% 6.1%

Puerto Rican 6.6% 60.5% 8.4%

Other Hispanic 5.2% 70.9% 14.2%

More Hispanics unemployed People 16 and older unemployed and looking for

work: White non-Hispanics 6.5% All Hispanics 11.3% Non Hispanics 7.5%

Puerto Rican 12.3%

Mexican 11.7%

Central, South American 10.8%

Cuban 9.4%

Other Hispanic 9.1%

More Hispanics live in single-parent households

Married Female-headed Male-headed White non-Hispanics 83.6% 12.5%

3.8% Non Hispanics 78.9% 16.8%

4.3% All Hispanics 68.2% 24.4%

7.4% Fewer Hispanics own homes Households that own their home: White

non-Hispanics 69.7% Non Hispanics 65.8% All Hispanics 39.9%

Cuban 50.4%

Mexican 43.7%

Central or South American 26.5%

Puerto Rican 24.1%

Other Hispanic 52.7%

GRAPHIC,b/w,J.L. Albert, USA TODAY ,Source:U.S. Census Bureau;

PHOTO,b/w,Bob Riha Jr., Gamma-Liaison