Posts Tagged: recession
Overall Number of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrants Holds Steady Since 2009
Among world regions, the number of unauthorized immigrants from Asia, Central America, and sub-Saharan Africa rose between 2009 and 2014. The number from Mexico has steadily declined since 2007, the first year of the Great Recession, but Mexicans remain more than half (52%) of U.S. unauthorized immigrants.
Across the United States, most states saw no statistically significant change in the size of their unauthorized immigrant populations from 2009 to 2014. In the seven states where the unauthorized immigrant population declined, falling numbers of unauthorized Mexican immigrants were the key factor. Meanwhile, among the six states that had increases in their unauthorized immigrant populations, only one – Louisiana – could trace this to a rise in the number of unauthorized immigrants from Mexico.
These are some of the key findings from the latest Pew Research Center estimates based mainly on U.S. Census Bureau data. Details concerning the source data and methods for calculating the estimates are available in the methodology.
The recent relative stability in the estimated size of the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population is a contrast to previous periods. The number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. rose through the 1990s and early 2000s, peaking at 12.2 million in 2007. The number of unauthorized immigrants declined in 2008 and 2009.
As the U.S. unauthorized immigrant population has stabilized, it also has become more settled. In 2014, unauthorized immigrant adults had lived in the U.S. for a median of 13.6 years – meaning that half had been in the country at least that long. In 2005, the median had been eight years, before rising to 10 years in 2009, the year the recession ended.
Mexicans remain the majority of the nation's unauthorized immigrant population, but their estimated number – 5.8 million in 2014 – has declined by about half a million people since 2009. Meanwhile, the number of unauthorized immigrants from all other nations – especially those from Asia and Central America – grew by 325,000 since 2009, to 5.3 million in 2014. The decline in unauthorized immigrants from some parts of the world, mainly Mexico, was roughly balanced by an increase in unauthorized immigrants from other parts of the world, so the total U.S. unauthorized immigrant population had no statistically significant change from 2009 to 2014.
In contrast to the stable unauthorized immigrant total, the overall foreign-born population in the U.S. has gone up each year since 2009. The overall immigrant population rose by nearly 3 million from 2009 to 2014, reaching 43.6 million, even as its unauthorized immigrant component did not change.
As overall net immigration from Mexico declined, immigration from Asia did not flag – indeed, it increased somewhat. As a result, among all newly arriving immigrants to the U.S., more now come from Asia than from Latin America, a change since 2008.
After rising for decades, the number of unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. who are from Mexico began to decline from a peak of 6.9 million in 2007. Though the overall U.S. unauthorized immigrant population has stabilized since the recession ended in 2009, the total number from Mexico has continued to shrink and is now more than 1 million below its 2007 peak.
A notable change that has fueled the decline in the population of Mexican unauthorized immigrants is a decrease in the number of new arrivals. Before the Great Recession, the number of new arrivals from Mexico exceeded the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants who left the U.S. The decrease in the Mexican unauthorized immigrant population since 2009 indicates that departures have exceeded arrivals.
At the national level, the rise in unauthorized immigrants from countries other than Mexico was driven mainly by an increase in those from Central America, Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. The number of unauthorized immigrants born in India, for example, grew by about 130,000 from 2009 to 2014, to an estimated 500,000. Many unauthorized immigrants from these nations arrived with legal status and overstayed their visas, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said recently that his agency is “doubling down” on preventing immigrants from Africa, the Middle East and other parts of the world from crossing illegally at the southwest border.
Recent arrivals a smaller share of U.S. unauthorized immigrants
Unauthorized immigrants increasingly are likely to have been in the U.S. for 10 years or more – 66% in 2014 compared with 41% in 2005. A declining share has lived in the U.S. for less than five years; only 14% had been in the U.S. for less than five years in 2014, compared with 31% in 2005.
This overall change has been fueled by the decline in new unauthorized immigrants, especially those from Mexico. Among Mexican unauthorized immigrants, fully 78% had lived in the U.S. for 10 years or more as of 2014, and only 7% had been in the U.S. for less than five years. Among unauthorized immigrants from nations other than Mexico, a smaller share, but still a majority – 52% – had lived in the U.S. for at least a decade in 2014. Compared with Mexicans, a higher share of unauthorized immigrants from elsewhere – 22% – had been in the U.S. for less than five years.
Because of historic immigration patterns between the U.S. and Mexico, unauthorized immigrants are more likely to be long-term residents in Western states. In California, home to the largest unauthorized immigrant population in the U.S., the median length of U.S. residence is 15.6 years, meaning that at least half have lived in the U.S. since the late 1990s. Some 71% of unauthorized immigrants in California are of Mexican origin.
Unauthorized immigrant populations changed in 13 states from 2009 to 2014. In five of the six where populations rose, the change was due to an increase in unauthorized immigrants from countries other than Mexico. In all seven states where populations declined, it was due to a decline in the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants.
The overall estimated population of unauthorized immigrants went up in six states from 2009 to 2014. In five of them, the increase was due to the number of unauthorized immigrants from countries other than Mexico rising as the number of Mexican unauthorized immigrants either stayed the same (Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington) or declined (New Jersey). Only one state – Louisiana – saw an increase in its unauthorized immigrant population driven by an increase in Mexicans. In that state, the number of unauthorized immigrants from other countries did not change from 2009 to 2014.
The estimated population of unauthorized immigrants went down in seven states from 2009 to 2014 because of declines in the number from Mexico. In six of those states – California, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Nevada and South Carolina – the estimated number of unauthorized immigrants from countries other than Mexico did not change. In the remaining state – Alabama – the total from other countries rose from 2009 to 2014, but the number from Mexico decreased more.
In 2014, 59% of unauthorized immigrants lived in the same six states that have housed the majority of unauthorized immigrants for decades. California, with 2.3 million, has by far the largest number, followed by Texas, Florida, New York, New Jersey and Illinois. The unauthorized immigrant population had become much more dispersed around the country as numbers increased in nontraditional settlement areas. In 1990, 80% of unauthorized immigrants lived in the top six states; by 2005, the share had fallen to roughly the current level, 61%.
Unauthorized immigrants accounted for 3.5% of the overall population and 26% of the nation's 43.6 million foreign-born residents in 2014. The U.S. foreign-born population also included 19 million naturalized citizens, 11.7 million lawful permanent residents and 1.7 million lawful residents with temporary status (such as students, diplomats and so-called “guest workers” in the technology sector). In total, immigrants represented 13.6% of the U.S. population in 2014.
The issue of unauthorized immigration has played a prominent role in the 2016 presidential campaign. For more on the nation's view of immigrants and immigration policy, see Pew Research Center surveys on this topic.
The unauthorized immigrant estimates in this report are produced using a multistage method that first subtracts the estimated U.S. lawful foreign-born population from the total adjusted foreign-born population to derive a residual estimate of the unauthorized immigrant population. Then, the residual estimates serve as control totals in assigning legal status to individual respondents in the survey. The main source of data for 1995-2004 is the March supplement of the Current Population Survey, and for 2005-2014 it is the American Community Survey; both are conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau; see Methodology for more details.
Source: Published originally on PewResearchCenter Overall Number of U.S. Unauthorized Immigrants Holds Steady Since 2009 , by Jeffrey S. Passel and D'Vera Cohn, September 20, 2016.
Growth in Hispanic-Owned Businesses Outpacing Total Business Creation in U.S., California, and Inland Southern California
The study, released today by the UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecasting and Development at the School of Business Administration, examines data from the U.S Census Bureau's newest Survey of Business Owners, which is published once every five years and provides the most current snapshot of the nation's proprietors. The most recent survey includes data on business owners through 2012 and was released this past December.
The new analysis finds that from 2007 to 2012, the number of Hispanic-owned businesses grew 46.3% in the U.S., 43.9% in California, and a whopping 50.6% in Inland Southern California. Comparatively, the rate of growth among ‘all businesses' was much slower: 3.4% in the U.S., 5.0% in California, and 8.0% in Inland Southern California. With this growth, Hispanic-owned businesses now comprise over one-third of all businesses in Inland Southern California (36.9%), nearly one-quarter (23.4%) of all California businesses and 12.2% of all U.S businesses.
The upsurge helps the share of Hispanic business ownership converge closer to the share of Hispanics employed in the workforce at all three levels. Hispanics comprise 46.2% of the labor force in Inland Southern California, 35.3% in California, and 15.5% in the United States.
“For years, Hispanics have made up a large and growing share of the population and workforce of the nation, state, and inland region,” said Director of the Center for Economic Forecasting and Development Christopher Thornberg, one of the report's lead authors. “As a measure of socio-economic advancement, it is an important and positive trend to see proprietorships increasing and a healthier balance developing between Hispanic business owners and workers.”
The last time this Census data was published, Hispanic-owned businesses comprised 8.6% of all businesses in the U.S., 17.1% in California, and 26.5% in Inland Southern California.
While growing impressively in number, Hispanic-owned businesses in Inland Southern California have not kept pace with their counterparts at the state and national level when it comes to revenue or employment growth. In Inland Southern California, revenues generated by Hispanic-owned businesses increased just 5.8% from 2007 to 2012, while they jumped 23.1% in California, and 35.1% in the United States.
Over the same period, hiring at Hispanic-owned businesses in the Inland region declined by 9.2% while it expanded at the state (12.7%) and national (22.1%) level. While job growth at the state and national level bucked a recessionary trend of falling employment among all businesses, the decline locally was likely tied to the severity of the recession in the inland region.
Despite growth on many fronts, Hispanic-owned businesses account for a disproportionately low share of total revenues and employment across all three geographies with the disparity intensifying at the regional level. In Inland Southern California, they make up nearly 40% of all businesses but generate just 9.1% of total revenues and employ only 10.3% of the local workforce. In California, Hispanic-owned businesses comprise 23.4% of all businesses but only generate 6.5% of all revenues and employ just 8.0% of the state's workforce; in the nation they make up 12.2% of all U.S. businesses, but generate 4.0% of total national revenues and employ 4.2% of the nation's employed population.
“The disparities in revenue and employment should improve as these businesses mature,” Thornberg said. Indeed, according to the analysis, many Hispanic-owned businesses have formed within the past five years and are relatively young enterprises. While some of the disparities may be related to their early stage of development, the authors also note that in Inland Southern California, Hispanic-owned businesses may need to reevaluate their business strategies in order to improve revenue and employment outcomes.
Source: UCR Today, Growth in Hispanic-Owned Businesses Outpacing Total Business Creation in U.S., California, and Inland Southern Californiaby Sarah Nightingale, April 13, 2016.
Poverty increasing for Latinos in Sonoma
During the five-year period ending in 2014, an average of 19.6 percent of Latinos in Sonoma County lived at or below the poverty line, compared to 9.3 percent of white residents. In 2014, the federal poverty level was $14,580 for an individual and $29,820 for a family of four.
The figures show that poverty increased in Sonoma County for both Latinos and whites. During the previous five-year period, between 2005 and 2009, an average of 15.1 percent of Latinos and 7.4 percent of whites lived at or below the government's official poverty threshold.
The statistics alone do not adequately shed light on the issue of poverty in Sonoma County, said Tim Reese, executive director of Community Action Partnership of Sonoma County, a local nonprofit group that provides services to low-income residents.
“Many of the poor in our community are hidden from our view,” Reese said, adding that some may be agricultural workers who live in “out-of-sight” rural housing, while others may be undocumented immigrants who are living “off the grid” because of their status.
Meanwhile, poverty and living- wage advocates argue that the official poverty threshold doesn't adequately describe the size of the local population, Latino and otherwise, who are struggling economically.
One southwest Santa Rosa mother said the $28,000 a year her husband makes working as a landscaper often leaves the family of four unable to cover their $1,450 monthly rent.
“The rest goes to pay bills like water, electricity, garbage, cellphone,” said Veronica, who spoke on condition that her last name be withheld because she is an undocumented immigrant. “What little is left goes to pay for food. There's no money for extras such as eating out.”
The couple, who are originally from Mexico, have a 19-month-old girl and a 2-year-old boy. Both have asthma, and the boy suffers from a severe skin condition. Veronica participates in Community Action Partnership's AVANCE program, which teaches her crucial parenting skills, while her boy is in a program called Pasitos, aimed at providing toddlers with the necessary tools to succeed in preschool and beyond.
Oscar Chavez, assistant director of the county Human Services Department, predicted that economic disparities between white and Latino residents will have increasingly adverse effects on the local community as Latinos continue to become a larger share of the overall population. Education is the single most important battlefront in efforts to reduce poverty in Sonoma County, he said.
“Latinos earn $15,000 less than whites and are further behind in educational attainment,” Chavez said, citing a 2014 county report, titled “A Portrait of Sonoma County.”
In 2013, 23 percent of Latinos in Sonoma County between the ages of 19 and 24 did not have a high school diploma compared to 3 percent of white residents in the same age group.
“Closing the achievement gap is not only key to help our youth realize their full potential but also crucial to the well-being of our community and economic competitiveness,” Chavez said.
Chavez said that a continued decline in middle-wage jobs has created a “bifurcated job market, where we are seeing wage growth at the top and stagnation at the bottom, leaving little opportunity for the working poor to climb the wage ladder.”
He said that investing in early childhood education, raising high school graduation rates and providing the necessary training for Latinos to access higher-skilled jobs will greatly improve economic opportunities for Latinos in the county.
Veronica said that as hard as life is in the United States, she remains here because she believes her U.S.-born children can have a better life, free of the type of violence currently plaguing Mexico. To that end, she said, she and her children are learning the skills necessary to get ahead.
Source: Published originally on The Press Democrat as Poverty increasing for Latinos in Sonoma byMartin Espinoza, December 28, 2015.
Population Decline of Unauthorized Immigrants Stalls, May Have Reversed
The estimated number of unauthorized immigrants peaked at 12.2 million in 2007 and fell to 11.3 million in 2009, breaking a rising trend that had held for decades. Although there are indications the number of unauthorized immigrants may be rising, the 2012 population estimate is the midpoint of a wide range of possible values and in a statistical sense is no different from the 2009 estimate.
Source: Pew Research Hispanic Trends Project, Population Decline of Unauthorized Immigrants Stalls, May Have Reversed by Jeffrey S. Passel, D’Vera Cohn and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, September 23, 2013.
Mexican-origin Hispanics in the United States
Mexicans are by far the largest Hispanic-origin population in the U.S., accounting for nearly two-thirds (64%) of the U.S. Hispanic population in 2012.1 Hispanics of Mexican origin are also a significant portion of the U.S. population, accounting for 11 percent overall.
The size of the Mexican-origin population in the U.S. has risen dramatically over the past four decades as a result of one of the largest mass migrations in modern history. In 1970, fewer than 1 million Mexican immigrants lived in the U.S. By 2000, that number had grown to 9.8 million, and by 2007 it reached a peak of 12.5 million Since then, the Mexican-born population has declined as the arrival of new Mexican immigrants has slowed significantly Today, 35 percent of Hispanics of Mexican origin were born in Mexico. And while the remaining two-thirds (65%) were born in the U.S., half (52%) of them have at least one immigrant parent.
Mexican immigration has also played a large role in shaping the nation’s immigrant population. Today, 11.4 million Mexican immigrants live in the U.S., making them the single largest country of origin group by far among the nation’s 40 million immigrants. The next largest foreign-born population, from greater China at 2 million,2 is less than one-fifth the size of the Mexican-born population in the U.S.
In addition, Mexican migration has shaped the nation’s unauthorized immigrant population. More than half (55%) of the 11.1 million immigrants who are in the country illegally are from Mexico.
Among Mexican immigrants, half (51%) are in the U.S. illegally while about a third are legal permanent residents (32%) and 16% are naturalized U.S. citizens. Overall, naturalization rates among Mexican immigrants who are in the country legally are just half that of legal immigrants from all other countries combined.
Internationally, the U.S. is far and away the top destination for immigrants from Mexico.
Mexican Immigrants Today and Two Decades Ago
The characteristics of Mexican immigrants have changed over the decades. Compared with 1990, Mexican immigrants in 2011 were less likely to be male (53% vs. 55%), considerably older (median age of 38 vs. 29), better educated (41% with high school or more vs. 25%), and have been in the U.S. for longer (71% had been in the U.S. for more than 10 years, compared with 50%).
On economic measures, Mexican immigrants have mixed results. Although median personal earnings increased by about $2,000 during the last two decades, the median household income of Mexican immigrants suffered a drop of more than $4,500. This reflects the effects of the recent economic recession that drove up unemployment rates in the nation, particularly among Mexican immigrants.
This demographic portrait compares the demographic, income and economic characteristics of the foreign-born and native-born Mexican-origin populations with the characteristics of all Hispanics in the U.S. It is based on tabulations from the 2011 American Community Survey by the Pew Hispanic Center, a project of the Pew Research Center. Key findings include:
- Immigration status. Almost two-thirds of Mexicans in the U.S. are native born (65%). About two-thirds of immigrants from Mexico (65%) arrived in the U.S. in 1990 or later.
- Language. Two-thirds (66%) of Mexican-origin Hispanics ages 5 and older speak English proficiently.5 The remaining 34% report speaking English less than very well, equal to the share among all Hispanics. About nine-in-ten (89%) native-born Mexicans ages 5 and older speak English proficiently. This compares to about one-in-three (29%) among Mexican immigrants.
- Age. Mexican-origin Hispanics are younger than both the U.S. population and Hispanics overall. The median age of Mexicans is 25; the median ages of the U.S. population and all Hispanics are 37 and 27, respectively. U.S.-born Mexicans are considerably younger than their foreign-born counterparts. The median age of native-born Mexicans is 17, compared with 38 of the foreign born.
- Marital status. Among those ages 15 and older, Mexican immigrants are more likely than native-born Mexicans to be married—58% vs. 34% respectively. As a group, Mexican-origin Hispanics ages 15 and older are slightly more likely (45%) to be married than Hispanics overall (43%).
- Fertility. Almost one-in-ten (8%) Mexican women ages 15 to 44 gave birth in the 12 months prior to this survey. That was the same as the rate for all Hispanic women—8%—and slightly higher than the overall rate for U.S. women—6%. More than four-in-ten (45%) Mexican women ages 15 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months prior to the survey were unmarried. That was similar to the rate for all Hispanic women—47%—and greater than the overall rate for U.S. women—38%.
- Regional dispersion. More than half (52%) of Mexican-origin Hispanics live in the West, mostly in California (36%), and another 35% live in the South, mostly in Texas (26%). There is no significant difference in the regional dispersion of Mexicans by nativity.
- Educational attainment. Mexicans have lower levels of education than the Hispanic population overall. Some 10% of Mexicans ages 25 and older—compared with 13% of all U.S. Hispanics—have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree. Mexicans born in the U.S. are almost three times more likely to have earned a bachelor’s degree than those born in Mexico—15% vs. 6% respectively. About six-in-ten Mexican immigrants have not earned a high school diploma (59%), compared with 21% of Mexicans born in the U.S.
- Income. The median annual personal earnings for Hispanics of Mexican origin ages 16 and older was $20,000 in the year prior to the survey, the same as for U.S. Hispanics overall. U.S.-born Mexicans had higher earnings than their immigrant counterparts—a median of $22,000 vs. $19,000 respectively.
- Poverty status. The share of Mexicans who live in poverty, 27%, is slightly higher than the rate for Hispanics overall (25%). U.S.-born Mexicans are slightly less likely to live in poverty than their foreign-born counterparts—26% vs. 29% respectively.
- Health insurance. One-third of Mexicans (33%) do not have health insurance, compared with 30% of all Hispanics. More than half (57%) of Mexican immigrants are uninsured, compared with 20% of those born in the U.S.
- Homeownership. The rate of homeownership (49%) among Mexican-origin Hispanics is higher than the rate for all Hispanics (46%). The rate of homeownership among U.S.-born Mexicans (53%) is higher than that of Mexican immigrants (45%).
Source: Originally published on Pew Research Hispanic Center as A Demographic Portrait of Mexican-Origin Hispanics in the United Statesby Ana Gonzalez-Barrera and Mark Hugo Lopez, May 1, 2013.