New Census Figures Show Higher Hispanic Poverty Rate

The Pew Research Center just reported on new U.S. Census data that provides an alternative measure of poverty “that uses a wider range of factors than the official federal measure to determine poverty status.” According to Pew:

“When the alternative measure is used, a greater share of Hispanics in 2010 lived in poverty than any other group. By contrast, when using the official poverty rate, a greater share of blacks in 2010 lived in poverty than Hispanics or any other group. Even so, no matter which measure is used, Hispanics make up nearly three-in-ten of the nation’s poor-28.6% under the official poverty measure and 28.7% under the SPM.”

Read the data from Pew Research Center here and the full report for more detailed information on the Census figures.

The new poverty data will play a role in the larger political landscape and in this election environment. No matter which group is living at a higher rate of poverty, the sad reality is that too many Americans are living under the poverty line. This is unacceptable in America, the leader of the free world. Fixing the economy and addressing poverty, should and MUST be a major issue in this election cycle.

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Latino Youth Struggle To Succeed

The economy and education continue to be the top issues in the Latino community. Some headlines to read, in case you missed it….

• L.A. TIMES: Children of immigrants hit an economic ceiling (California)

  Facing a tough economy, even the well-educated Latinos find it tough to earn middle-class wages, and some end up in the farm fields where their parents toiled to give them better lives.

  “Many young Americans are finding themselves worse off than their parents were at their age, without jobs or working below their skill and education levels. The unemployment rate for 16- to 24-year-olds is 17.4%, up from 10.6% in 2006.

  The situation is even tougher for children of immigrants, such as Romero. Their parents paved the way by working tough jobs so their children could get an education and secure their place in the middle class. Now, with middle-class jobs disappearing, many children of immigrants are settling for the jobs their parents did, even if they are better educated.

  “We’ve never had so many American-born working in the fields,” said Joe Del Bosque, the Central Valley farmer who hired Romero and other laborers like him to pick melons. “Farm work is usually the big step for some people to push their kids into the American Dream.” READ MORE
  

• NPR:  Students Born To Illegal Immigrants Sue Over Tuition (Florida)
  

“A class-action lawsuit has been filed in Miami by Florida residents being charged out-of-state tuition rates to attend state colleges and universities. The students are American citizens — children who were born in the U.S. to illegal immigrants — and they say Florida’s regulations violate their constitutional rights.” READ MORE

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Happy Mexican Independence Day

Today marks the start of festivities for Mexican Independence Day with el Grito de Indepencia, the cry for Independence.

201 years ago the people of Nueva Espana (New Spain) sought freedom from the tyranny of the royal Spanish crown. Much like their North American neighbors, the colonial citizens of present day Mexico desired freedom, equality and the right to elect their own leaders. Through a long and hard battle they won Independence and created the United Mexican States. (see video above.)

Today, also marks the start of National Hispanic Heritage Month, September 15 – October 15. The period honoring all things Latino, started as Hispanic Heritage Week, as approved by President Lyndon Johnson. It was later expanded by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 to cover a 30-day period. President Reagan understood Latinos and wanted to fully recognized their powerful contributions to our great society.

According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are more than 50 million Hispanics in the U.S., 16 percent of the total population, forming the nation’s largest ethnic minority.  Just under half live in California or Texas, and more than six-out-of-10 are of Mexican background.

Underlining the rate of growth of the Hispanic community, 26 percent of all children under the age of 5 in the U.S. are Hispanic.

Find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

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Huntsman Names National Chairpersons for Hispanic and Youth Vote

In an effort to court the crucial Latino vote, this week GOP Presidential candidate Jon Huntsman named Ana Navarro, a Miami-based Republican strategist and GOP fundraiser, as his National Hispanic Chairperson.

Navarro’s appointment was made during a Miami press conference on Wednesday, billed as a “major announcement“ to highlight the endorsement of Jeb Bush Jr., the son of the popular Florida Governor.

Jeb Bush Jr., who heads Florida based SunPAC, a Hispanic outreach group, will serve as the National Chairman of “GenH,” the campaign’s youth and young professional outreach program.

Navarro, who co-chaired John McCain’s Hispanic outreach in 2008, is a hard-hitting GOP operative, a seasoned surrogate, who is focused on getting results. While the Huntsman campaign has been slow to gain traction in the polls, Navarro can serve a pivotal role by securing support among Hispanics. Especially in Florida, Latino voters have served as a key voting block for victorious campaigns including President George W. Bush (56%), President Barack Obama (57%) and most recently for Governor Rick Scott (50%) in 2010.

In addition to announcing his new endorsements, Huntsman articulated his Cuba policy. Huntsman said he backs the sanctions and embargo against Cuba. Watch the video for more:

Discussing his support for Huntsman and the candidates’ fiscal policies, Jeb Bush Jr. stated “…between the ages of 20-30, this generation we are going to spend the rest of our life paying for your debts… We need people with substantiate policies and with great ideas to come out and put policies in place to lead my kids’ generation out of this debt.“

As the head of Huntsman’s “GenH” efforts targeting young voters Jeb Bush Jr. will have to continue discussing the failing economy and its impact on American’s youth and young professionals. Many believe the GOP can capture the youth vote in 2012.

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Young Latinos By The Numbers – Language and Technology

Understanding the Latino community can be as complex as trying to learn Spanish in one day. Thanks to fellow Latina blogger Michelle Ruiz and Telemundo, here is some interesting data on young Latinos to help comprehend the much sought after demographic.

Ruiz attended, “NBC Unidos,” where  Millie Carrasquillo, Senior Vice President of Telemundo Media Research shared data from their study “GenYLA: Generation Young Latino Americans.” The “GenYLA” study  was conducted by the Telemundo Communications Group on the current state of Young Latino Americans (YLAS), ages 18-34.

The study provides some great data on how young Latinos are mobile, technologically savvy and über connected. Some data directly from the study, Young Latino Americans (YLAS), ages 18-34:

“YLAS are the always-connected generation.

YLAS are multi-taskers. YLAS are always consuming high levels of anything technological: 94% have access to the Internet at home; 84% Have high-speed internet; and 87% stream video content, with another 73% that listen to music on the internet. Laptop ownership has taken precedence over desktop, with 73% that own a PC or a Mac.

With a huge strength in mobile usage, a high percent (87%) of YLAS cannot live without it. YLAS are great multi-taskers as many of the activities they focus on are also centered among an online environment. While a majority they told us they eat while watching television (80%), they also text (61%), talk on the phone (60%) and surf the web (50%).”

Below I posted some great notes taken by Ruiz. Statistics on Latinos pulled from Ruiz’s full post: What You Need to Know About Latinos Aged 18-25 and Why It’s Critical to Your Business“

• When describing themselves as Latinos, they use country of origin (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, etc)
• Describe themselves in this order: Country of origin, American, then Latino
• 62% of Hispanics are born in the U.S.
• Demonstrate fluidity in language and slide back and forth between Spanish, English and Spanglish – primarily speak Spanish at home and with family, and English at work, school and with friends.
• Live bilingual, bicultural lifestyle

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The Growing Latino Electorate, A Political Opportunity

The Washington Post’s The Fix takes a look at a new Pew Hispanic Center survey and growth and power of Latino voters. The number of Hispanic eligible voters has increased in the last decade from 13.2 million in 2000 to 21.3 million in 2010, and will continue to be an important swing voting block.

The report, and the WP article, highlight that while the Hispanic electorate has grown, they have yet to exercise their full political muscle. This is an opportunity for both political parties, but especially for Republicans. Democrats have worked hard to capture the Hispanic electorate. Yet, while the Democrats try it all to woo Latinos, the group refuses to fully commit to Democrats, or any political party. History, and the 2010 election, has shown that Republicans have an opportunity to gain support with Hispanic voters — when the party intelligently engages and communicates their message.

The question remains, will Republicans again squander the opportunity in 2012 by listening to people who don’t understand the Hispanic community? or will they implement a real Latino outreach and messaging strategy?

Read the piece:

The Fix: Latino turnout squanders chance at being key voting bloc

By Aaron Blake and Rachel Weiner

Latinos are growing faster than any other major population group in the United States, but they still aren’t a major factor in U.S. elections. At least, yet.

A new Pew Hispanic Center survey shows that in 2010, even though 16.3 percent of the country’s population was Latino, just 7 percent of voters were.This is largely, of course, because of the large amounts of Latinos who are under 18 (35 percent, according to the survey) and who aren’t citizens (22 percent). But even among those who are eligible to vote, Latinos lag far behind.

…

A full 44 percent of Latinos voted Republican in the 2004 election. That figure dropped to about 30 percent in both 2006 and 2008 — two big Democratic years — before rising back to 38 percent in 2010…

The Latino population is very young, even among eligible voters. Nearly one-third of Latino eligible voters are under 30 — typically the age group that votes the least.And another 600,000 Latinos turn 18 every year, adding rapidly to the 21.3 million eligible Latino voters…”

Some numbers from the Pew Hispanic Center, (after the jump) 

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