Featured Research
5.28.2009
Who’s Hispanic?
Is Judge Sonia Sotomayor the first Hispanic ever nominated to the U.S. Supreme Court, or does that distinction belong to Justice Benjamin Cardozo, who served on the court from 1932-38 and whose family tree apparently had some roots in Portugal? The question of who's Hispanic -- and who isn't -- turns out to be pretty complicated.
5.28.2009
Latino Children: A Majority Are U.S.-Born Offspring of Immigrants
The number of Hispanic children has nearly tripled since 1980 and their demographic profile has changed. More than half of the nation's 16 million Hispanic children are now "second generation," meaning they are the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent. In 1980, a majority of Hispanic children were third or higher generation -- the U.S.-born sons or daughters of U.S.-born parents. This report also looks at the differences in the socio-economic profile and legal status of Hispanic children by generation.
5.12.2009
Through Boom and Bust
 

During the housing boom of 1995-2005, the nation's minority groups experienced greater gains than whites in homeownership rates. But in the market meltdown since then, homeownership rates have fallen more steeply for most minorities than for whites. Through both boom and bust, Hispanics and blacks have been far more likely than whites to receive higher-priced loans and carry higher debt relative to their incomes. Meantime, while immigrants have a substantially lower homeownership rate than the native born, they also have experienced a smaller decline in the rate during the market bust. The report also examines how demographic patterns are related to foreclosure rates across the nation's 3,141 counties.

4.30.2009
Dissecting the 2008 Electorate: Most Diverse in U.S. History
The electorate in last year's presidential election was the most racially and ethnically diverse in U.S. history, with nearly one-in-four votes cast by non-whites. The nation's three biggest minority groups--blacks, Hispanics and Asians--each accounted for unprecedented shares of the presidential vote. Additionally, the levels of participation by black, Hispanic and Asian eligible voters all increased from 2004 to 2008, reducing the gap between themselves and white eligible voters. This was particularly true for black eligible voters. Their voter turnout rate increased 4.9 percentage points, from 60.3% in 2004 to 65.2% in 2008, nearly matching the voter turnout rate of white eligible voters (66.1%).
4.14.2009
A Portrait of Unauthorized Immigrants in the United States
The nation's 11.9 million unauthorized immigrants are more geographically dispersed than in the past, according to a new Pew Hispanic Center demographic and geographic analysis of this group that includes population and labor force estimates for each state. Undocumented immigrants also are more likely than either U.S. born residents or legal immigrants to live in a household with children, a growing share of whom--73%--are U.S. born citizens. The new report also finds that the recent rapid growth in the undocumented immigrant labor force has come to a halt, and estimates that the nation's 8.3 million unauthorized immigrant workers in March 2008 made up 5.4% of the labor force.

See Also: Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2008

4.7.2009
Hispanics and the Criminal Justice System
Latinos' confidence in the U.S. criminal justice system is closer to the relatively low levels expressed by blacks than to the higher levels expressed by whites, according to a pair of nationwide surveys by the Pew Research Center. Six-in-ten (61%) Hispanics say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence that the police in their communities will do a good job enforcing the law, compared with 78% of whites and 55% of blacks. Fewer than half of Latinos say they are confident that Hispanics will be treated fairly by the courts (49%) and police officers (45%).

See Also: A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime

3.31.2009
Sharp Growth in Suburban Minority Enrollment<br/>Yields Modest Gains in School Diversity
The student population of America's suburban public schools has shot up by 3.4 million in the past decade and a half, and virtually all of this increase (99%) has been due to the enrollment of new Latino, black, and Asian students. Suburban school districts in 2007 educated a student population that was 41.4% non-white, up from 28% in 1993.  Despite the sharp rise in the racial and ethnic diversity of suburban district enrollments overall, there has been only a modest increase in the racial and ethnic diversity of student populations at the level of the individual suburban school.  For example, in 2007, the typical white suburban student attended a school which had a 75% white student body; in 1993, this same figure had been 83%.
Recent Publications

4.15.2009
Mexican Immigrants in the United States, 2008

3.5.2009
Statistical Portrait of Hispanics in the United States, 2007

3.5.2009
Statistical Portrait of the Foreign-Born Population in the United States, 2007

2.18.2009
A Rising Share: Hispanics and Federal Crime
Sharp growth in illegal immigration and increased enforcement of immigration laws have altered the ethnic composition of offenders sentenced in federal courts. Latinos, who are 13% of the U.S. adult population, accounted for 40% of all sentenced federal offenders in 2007—up from 24% in 1991. Immigration offenses now represent about one-quarter of all federal convictions, compared with 7% in 1991. Most Latinos with federal sentences are not U.S. citizens. Hispanics are more likely to receive a prison term but it is generally shorter than prison terms for whites and blacks.

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