Hispanic Americans in the United States: Young, dynamic and diverse

Hispanic Americans are a rapidly growing population group, with numbers that increased 53 percent between 1980 and 1990. In 1994 Hispanics numbered 26.6 million, accounting for 10.3 percent of the civilian noninstitutional U.S. population. The Census Bureau projects continued rapid growth but at a decreasing rate than in the past. The population totals may exceed 31 million by the year 2000 and 96 million by 2050. According to the Census Bureau, Hispanic Americans may surpass African Americans as the largest U.S. minority group by the year 2005. While Hispanics present a varied social and economic portrait, they are likely to be young and economically active. As a group, they tend to trail the rest of the U.S. population in terms of educational attainment, occupational status and income. Hispanics are much more likely to be living below the poverty level and less likely to have health insurance than other U.S. populations. The origins and migration patterns vary both between and among the various groups. Each group has tended to settle in a few states with close to 90 percent of all Hispanics living in just nine states. Low educational attainment, combined at times with a lack of English language and other job skills, tends to confine Hispanics to the lower-paying, less stable and more hazardous occupations. Low income and larger family size translate into higher poverty rates, particularly among children. That, in turn, may affect children's ability to realize their full educational potential. Still, Hispanics, particularly men, have high labor force participation rates and will become an expanding part of the future labor force. As such, they will be expected to contribute to the retirement benefits of an ever aging U.S. population.