(Name-mce) ListServ Hispanics in America

Thu Sep 7 14:30:19 EDT 2006

Hispanics in America 

On the web at
http://infocusmagazine.org/6.2/bsoc_hispanics_in_america.html

Population Gains Bring Opportunities 

and Challenges 

Hispanics are the nation's largest ethnic group -- and its
fastest-growing. They represent 14 percent of the U.S. population, and
if current trends continue, that number will grow to nearly 25 percent
within two decades. This rapid increase, anticipated across many parts
of the United States, will be one of the most important demographic
stories of the early 21st century. How that story will play out is
uncertain.

A s a group, Hispanics are far from monolithic. They vary in national
origin, immigrant and legal status, skin color, social and economic
background, language use, and political views. Hispanics face the many
challenges often confronted by immigrants in a new homeland. But they
also face some conditions that other waves of immigrants did not, such
as a global marketplace that increasingly relies on well-educated
employees. Additionally, U.S. Hispanics as a group are young. In 2000
their median age was 27, compared with 39 for non-Hispanic whites. By
2030, the children of today's Spanish-speaking immigrants will number
about 26 million -- and most will be part of the U.S. work force.

Education and training are the linchpins that will give the nation's
Hispanic workers and their children important tools to contribute to and
share in U.S. prosperity, says a recent National Research Council report
that examines the Hispanic experience in the United States. Targeted
investments in these areas would benefit not only Hispanics, but also
the country as a whole by enhancing U.S. productivity as baby boomers
shift into retirement.

Many Hispanics are now on the bottom rungs of the U.S. economic ladder
in low-paying service jobs. This is especially true for recent
immigrants, most of whom arrive with little formal education. Inadequate
English language skills and schooling frequently limit their access to
better jobs and impede the upward mobility of their children. English
proficiency is key for success in the job market, higher learning, and
everyday activities such as navigating health care systems and
participating in civic life, the report says.

Failure to complete high school remains a major problem for many
Hispanics, leaving them ill-equipped to compete for high-paying jobs in
an economy driven by technology and information, says the report, which
covers economic, health, education, and other aspects of Hispanics'
lives. Although many immigrant students are academically behind when
they arrive in this country, both foreign-born Hispanics and Hispanics
born in the United States are less likely to be high school graduates
than non-Hispanics. Improving the educational attainment of Hispanics
would raise their standard of living. And from a purely economic
standpoint, unless tomorrow's Hispanic workers have job skills
equivalent to those of retirees, their earnings will not be enough to
replenish dwindling Social Security coffers.

"Although their experiences in some ways mirror those of previous
immigrant groups, the size of the Hispanic population, its varied
immigration experiences, the global economy, and an aging majority
population have created unique challenges and opportunities for the
nation," said Marta Tienda, chair of the panel that wrote the report and
a professor of demographic studies, sociology, and public affairs at
Princeton University in Princeton, N.J.

Much is known about these issues. What is needed, the report says, is
the will to use this knowledge, integrating research findings into
public policy.   -- Vanee Vines

 Multiple Origins, Uncertain Destinies: Hispanics and the American
Future. 
http://newton.nap.edu/catalog/11314.html?infocus_6.2

Panel on Hispanics in the United States, Committee on Population,
Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (2006, 176 pp.;
ISBN 0-309-09667-7, available from the National Academies Press, tel.
1-800-624-6242; $34.95 plus $4.50 shipping for single copies). 

The panel was chaired by Marta Tienda, Maurice P. During Professor in
Demographic Studies and professor of sociology and public affairs,
Princeton University, Princeton, N.J. The study was sponsored by the
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National
Cancer Institute, Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research,
National Institute of Mental Health, and National Institute on Aging at
the National Institutes of Health; the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health; National Center for Health Statistics;
U.S. Census Bureau; Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; Robert Wood Johnson
Foundation; California HealthCare Foundation; and the California
Endowment. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
William A. Howe, Ed.D.
Education Consultant for Multicultural Education & Gender Equity
Connecticut State Department of Education - Bureau of Educational Equity
165 Capitol Ave. Rm 312, Hartford, CT 06106 
Telephone: 860-713-6542 * Fax: 860-713-7496
email: william.howe at ct.gov
website: http://www.state.ct.us/sde

11th Annual Connecticut Conference on Multicultural Education, Marriott
Hotel, Farmington, CT -Oct. 16, 2006,
<http://www.state.ct.us/sde/calendar/index.htm>  

Multicultural Educators to South Africa 2006 <http://www.billhowe.org/> 

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