THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 6, 1995 TAG: 9510060542
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: KNIGHT-RIDDER NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: MIAMI LENGTH: Medium: 55 lines
Census data released Thursday show that the U.S. Hispanic population has now climbed to 27 million and that about one in 10 Americans today is Hispanic.
``This is the fastest-growing community in our nation,'' said U.S. Commerce Secretary Ron Brown who released the Bureau of Census data at the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce national convention in Miami Beach. ``That has to have an impact on our policy.''
A higher birth rate for Hispanics and the entry of about two million immigrants between 1990 and 1994 spurred far high growth rates for Hispanics than the rest of the U.S. population.
But Hispanics continue to lag the general population in educational attainment and income. For example, 53 percent of Hispanics had attained high school degrees or higher, while 83 percent of non-Hispanics had achieved high school degrees or higher in 1994.
The new census data also shows that compared to data from 1990, Hispanics are younger, more likely to be foreign-born (39 percent), more likely not to have health insurance, and that the gender gap in earnings among Hispanics is smaller than among non-Hispanics.
Among the highlights of the Hispanic population update, based on 1994 census information:
In 1993, Hispanic families had a median income of $23,670, compared to $41,110 for non-Hispanic white families and $36,966 for the total U.S. population. Puerto Rican family income (about $20,000) was lower than that of Hispanics of other national origins (about $25,000). Cuban families had a median income of $27,038 in 1993 - a decline from the $31,262 recorded in 1989.
The Bureau of Census statistics differ sharply from those released earlier this week by Miami-based Strategy Research. That survey showed annual average income of Hispanic families as $37,500 with Cubans having an average annual family income of $45,200.
The median age for Hispanics in 1994 was 26 - 10 years younger than for non-Hispanic Americans. The Mexican population was the youngest (average age 24), while the average age of those of Cuban origin was 43.
Hispanic women who worked full-time in 1993 earned 83 percent of what their male counterparts did, compared to non-Hispanic white women who arned only 70 percent of what full-time male workers did.
Hispanic women also made substantial salary gains between 1989 (median earnings $9,861) and 1993 ($16,670). Hispanic males earned $14,047 in 1989, and their median earnings in 1993 were $20,150.
KEYWORDS: POPULATION STATISTICS by CNB