Redefining America: Key Findings from the 2006 Latino National Survey

Latino Diversity

44 million Latinos in the US

Census Bureau (American Community Survey, Released August 2006)

Mexican 63.9%Puerto Rican 9%Cuban 3.5%Salvadoran 2.9%Dominican 2.7%Guatemalan 1.7%Colombian 1.8%ALL OTHERS 14.3%

Native-born (not Island-born): 35.4%

Foreign-born 61%Island-born PR 3.6%No high school diploma 43%College graduate 11.1%

Latino National Survey (unweighted N) Summer 2006

*Mexican 66.1% (5704)*Puerto Rican 9.5% (822)*Cuban 4.9% (420)*Salvadoran 4.7% (407)*Dominican 3.9% (335)*Guatemalan 1.7% (149)*Colombian 1.6% (139)*All Others 7.6%

*Native-born 28.4% (2450)Foreign-born (adults)

66.2% (5717)*Island-born PR 5.4% (467)*No high school diploma 37%*College graduate 16.2%

A Multiplicity of Identities

• Simultaneous strong sense of pan-ethnic identity, national origin identity, and American-ness Puerto Ricans illustrate best

that identities are not mutually exclusive

Cuban pan-ethnicity surprisingly high

Mexican sense of American-ness high considering the share foreign born

AmericanAmericanNational National OriginOrigin

Pan-Pan-EthnicEthnic

MexicanMexican 61.761.7 84.084.0 87.487.4

CubanCuban 77.877.8 82.182.1 81.681.6

Puerto Puerto RicanRican 83.783.7 90.790.7 89.389.3

AllAll 65.065.0 84.084.0 87.287.2

Cells are percent expressing Cells are percent expressing “somewhat” or “very strongly”“somewhat” or “very strongly”

Extent of Pan Ethnic Identification

by National Origin • Variation among

national origin groups modest

• Lowest groups are Cubans and Spaniards

• Highest groups are Central Americans, Puerto Ricans, and Dominicans

• Order of bars- So. Amer; Cen.

Amer.; Mex.; Puerto Rican; Cuban; Dominican; Salvadoran; Guatemalan; Spaniards

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

SomewhatStrongly

VeryStrongly

Forced Choice: Boxing in Latinos

• However, forced choice reveals more traditional patterns: American-ness suffers among

foreign-born but improves greatly across generations

Puerto Ricans least “Latino” and most stand alone as a group

Share of Mexicans choosing pan-ethnicity equals share choosing national origin

• We caution that this is an artificial choice, one not required of people in the real world

• Preference for pan-ethnicity still more than double what was found in LNPS 1989

Distribution of Single-Identity Preference by National Origin Group

AmericanNational

OriginPan-

Ethnic

Mexican 16.1 38.9 39.0

Cuban 27.7 36.8 26.7

Puerto Rican 21.2 43.9 27.9

All 17.0 38.5 38.0

Cells are percent of group choosing that identity

Latinos and Racial IdentificationLatinos and Racial Identification

•More complex than previously understoodwith confounding notions of phenotype and skin-tone.

•Self-identification distribution among LNS respondents: 67.2% some other race22.8% white .8% black

•Fully 51% of respondents say Latino/Hispanic is a different race!

•But… is Race the same as Skin-tone?

Racial Identification

Determinants of Racial Self-identification

• Racial identification doesn’t obviously vary by citizenship or generation in US.

• With one exception, no obvious differences by national origin or state of residence. – Cubans (and Floridians) are outliers (25% difference with six other major

Latino ethnic groups).– As previously documented, Cuban Americans are more likely than other

Latinos to self-identify as white.

• But…. Even Cuban response is a big shift from LNPS in 1989.

Cuban Distribution white other1989 92.5 3.82006 49.9 43.0

BBuutt

Skin-tone

Question: “Latinos can be described based on skin tone or complexion shades. Using a scale from 1 to 5 where 1 represents very dark and 5 represents being very light, where would you place yourself on that scale?”

• A plurality selects the exact middle category of skin-tone.

Percent Very dark = 1 3.31 2 7.67 3 40.68 4 19.62 Very light = 5 22.61 REFUSED 9 6.11 ---------------------------------- Total 100.00

• Cuban responses for skin-tone is not significantly different from other groups:– 9 % answering ‘dark’ or ‘very dark,’ compared to 10-11% of other

national origin groups.

• Darker skin-tone is associated with lower outcomes in income and home ownership but NOT with employment or education.

• Darker skin-tone also associated with more negative incidents with police, obtaining housing, and service in restaurants.

A Closer Look at Skin-tone

Skin-tone and “American” Identification

In general, how strongly or not do you think of yourself as American?- Very strongly, somewhat

strongly, not very strongly, or not al all.

• The plurality answer for all respondents was “very strongly” but the ones most likely to feel this way were the lightest skin-tone.

Not at Very All Strongly

Darkest 20% 14%Neutral 16% 35%Lightest 14% 44%--------------------------------All Respondents

15% 39%

THE DECLINE OF TRANSNATIONALISM

Plans to Return Permanently to Country of Origin, among First Generation Latinos, by Years in US

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Years in US

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Inte

nti

on t

o R

eturn

Perm

anen

tly

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

0.0

Remittances to Country of Origin Once a Month or More, among First-Generation Latinos, by Years in US

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Years in US

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Send R

emit

tance

s O

nce

a M

onth

or

More

.7

.6

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

0.0

Frequent Contact (more than once a month) with Family in Country of Origin, among First-Generation Latinos,

by Years in US

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Years in US

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Conta

ct O

nce

a M

onth

or

More

1.2

1.0

.8

.6

.4

.2

Spanish as Primary Language of Media Use, among First-Generation Latinos, by Years in US

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Years in US

4946434037343128252219161310741

Spanis

h a

s P

rim

ary

Langu

age o

f M

edia

Use

.9

.8

.7

.6

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

Contact with Friends and Family in Country of Origin Once a Month or More, among Latinos in the US, by Generation

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Generation in the US

4321

Mean o

f C

onta

ct O

nce

or

More

Per

Month

.9

.8

.7

.6

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

Remittances to Country of Origin Once a Month or More, among Latinos in the US, by Generation

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Generation in US

4321

Mean R

em

itta

nce

Once

a M

onth

or

More

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

0.0

Spanish as Primary Language of Media Use, among Latinos in the US, by Generation

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Generation in US

4321

Mean P

rim

ary

Spanis

h M

edia

.5

.4

.3

.2

.1

Follow Politics in Country of Origin a Lot, among Latinos in the US, by Generation

Cases weighted by WT_NATIO

Generation in US

4321

Mean F

ollo

w P

oliti

cs in C

ountr

y of

Ori

gin

A L

ot

.16

.14

.12

.10

.08

.06

.04

BEING AMERICAN

"Very Strong" Identification

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

First Second Third Fourth

Generation

Perc

en

t Latino/Hispanic

Country of Origin

American

Choice of Primary Identifier, by Generation

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

First Second Third Fourth

Percent

Gen

era

tion

in

US

Latino/Hispanic

Country or Origin

American

Perceived Importance of Speaking English

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

First Second Third Fourth

Generation

Perc

en

t w

ith

in G

en

era

tion

Not Important

Somewhat

Very Important

Perceived Importance of Being White

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

First Second Third Fourth

Generation

Perc

en

t w

ith

in G

en

era

tion

Not ImportantSomewhatVery Important

Perceived Importance of Being Christian

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

First Second Third Fourth

Generation

Perc

en

t w

ith

in G

en

era

tion

Not Important

Somewhat

Very Important