Childhood Poverty Among Hispanics Sets Record, Leads Nation
Mark Lopez and Gabriel Velasco, Pew Hispanic Center, September 28, 2011
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More Latino children are living in poverty–6.1 million in 2010–than children of any other racial or ethnic group. This marks the first time in U.S. history that the single largest group of poor children is not white. In 2010, 37.3% of poor children were Latino, 30.5% were white and 26.6% were black.
This negative milestone for Hispanics is a product of their growing numbers, high birth rates and declining economic fortunes. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, Hispanics today make up a record 16.3% of the total U.S. population. But they comprise an even larger share–23.1%–of the nation’s children, a disparity driven mainly by high birth rates among Hispanic immigrants.
Of the 6.1 million Latino children living in poverty, more than two-thirds (4.1 million) are the children of immigrant parents. The other 2 million are the children of parents born in the U.S. Among the 4.1 million impoverished Latino children of immigrants, the vast majority (86.2%) were born in the U.S.
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[Editor’s Note: View the full report here.]
