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Latinos and the Language of the News

In a recent report, Mark Hugo Lopez and Ana Gonzalez-Barrera from the Pew Research Hispanic Center found that an increasing number of Latino adults are getting their news in English and fewer are getting news in Spanish. The results are based on the National Survey of Latinos (NSL) that was conducted from September 7 through October 4, 2012, using a nationally representative sample of 1,765 Latino adults. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish on cell phones and landline telephones.

According to the survey, one-third (32%) of Hispanic adults said that they got their news exclusively in English in 2012, up from 22% in 2006. And 82% of Hispanic adults said they got some of their news in English in 2012, up from 78% in 2006. By contrast, the share of Hispanic adults who got their news exclusively in Spanish has decreased to 18% in 2012, down from 22% in 2006. While those who said that they got some of their news in Spanish has declined, to 68% in 2012, down from 78% in 2006. Half of Latino adults say they got their news in both languages in 2012, down from 57% in 2010.

Strong Latino Vote for Obama

In an analysis of exit polls conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, Barack Obama carried 71% of the Latino vote in Tuesday’s election. While Democratic candidates have long held an advantage with the Latino electorate, Obama had the second highest advantage with 44% more Latino votes than Mitt Romney. Bill Clinton takes top billing with the highest advantage among Latinos in 1996 (51%), while the Democratic candidate with the lowest advantage was John Kerry in 2004 (18%).

In addition, the 2012 Presidential race shows more Hispanic support for Obama than 2008, up eight points since the 2008 election. Also of note, the Hispanic electorate is growing (Latinos made up 8% of the population in 2008, 10% in 2012), making them a salient group of voters in the battleground states of Florida, Nevada and Colorado. In each of these states, Latino voters comprised more of the voting population than in 2008, up one point in Colorado, two points in Arizona, and three points in Florida.

Other interesting trends within the Latino population show that Hispanic women favored Obama as compared to men (76% to 65%); younger Hispanics were more inclined than older Latinos to vote for Obama (18-29 at 74%, 65+ at 65%); Hispanics will no college degree voted Democrat more than college graduates (75% to 62%); those who made less than $50,000 a favored Democrats more than those who earned above $50,000 (82% to 59%).

Record-High Latino Voter Registration, but Latino Voter Turnout Trends Low

The Pew Hispanic Center has recently released a report detailing the current registration of Latino voters for the upcoming presidential election, revealing an all-time high of nearly 24 million Latino voters registered to vote. These 23.7 million registered Latino voters are up 22% since 2008; this aligns with the fact that Latino voters now comprise 11% of the nation's available voters, up from 9.5% in 2008.

Despite the high number of Latino registered voters, the registered Latinos are much less likely to show up at the polls than registered whites and blacks. Half of the Latino voters who were registered in 2008 voted, while 65% and 66% of registered whites and blacks voted, respectively. Additionally, 55% of Hispanics are ineligible to vote (for example, not U.S. citizens or too young to vote) while only 31% of blacks and 21% of whites are ineligible.

The disparity between eligible Latino voters and continued low turnout has caused quite a stir within the media. In a piece analyzing this occurrence, Ed Pilkington of The Guardian states that "the statistics spell enormous potential rewards for any politician or political party who manages to release the Latino genie from the bottle."

Almost Half of Hispanic Population Concentrated in Ten Metropolitan Areas

Coinciding with National Hispanic Heritage Month, the Pew Hispanic Center released a report detailing the characteristics of 60 of the largest metropolitan areas by Hispanic population. Using the 2010 American Community Survey, the report found that 45% of the Hispanic population in the United States is concentrated in just 10 metropolitan areas. The 5.7 million Hispanics in the Los Angeles-Long Beach area account for more than 1 in every 10 Hispanics in the United States, with the New York-Northeastern New Jersey population containing 8% of the nation's Hispanic Population.

The report goes on to say that in Miami and San Antonio, Hispanics make up over half of the population, and that the same is the case in eleven more of the sixty largest metropolitan areas by Hispanic population. Included in the report is a breakdown of population by Hispanic origin group, with the largest origin group being Mexican-Americans at 65%. The full report, as well as an interactive map, can be found here.

Census Predicts Hispanic Population Within U.S. to Grow to 132.9 Million by 2050

Roberto Ramirez, Chief of the Ancestry and Ethnicity branch of the U.S. Census Bureau, appeared on C-SPAN to discuss the current and future Hispanic population in America. Currently, 52 million Hispanics reside in America, accounting for 16.7% of the entire U.S. population. In the past decade, the U.S. population added 30.1 million residents, 16.7 million (55.5%) of whom were Hispanic.

Births within the U.S. contributed to almost two thirds of the growth within the Hispanic population, with migration accounting for the other third. Additionally, Hispanics predominantly originate from Mexico, with more than 31 million hailing from the nation. Mr. Ramirez projects the Hispanic population within the U.S. to swell to over 132 million, 30.2% of Americans, by 2050.

Population Growth in U.S. Slows

Mark Mather of the Population Reference Bureau, in a recent article, sought to answer the question, “What's driving the decline in U.S. population growth?” While the U.S. added 2.9 million people from 2005 to 2006, the nation added only 2.3 million people from 2010 to 2011. His findings pointed to a number of factors. Firstly, the plunge in net immigration to the U.S. represents a major aspect of the decline. Additionally, the U.S. has experienced a slower growth in Latino and Asian ethnicities. At the turn of the century, percent annual change in U.S. population for Asian Americans and Latinos was over 4 percent, whereas today that rate is 2.5% and 2.2% respectively. Mather also notes that the American population is aging. While a decade ago, those under 18 contributed nearly 300,000 in population growth, but today, that age group fell by 190,000. In combination with a rise in the over 65 age group, it is clear that the U.S. population is aging rapidly. Finally, declining fertility rates are an incredibly important factor in the declining growth. In 2005-2006, there were 4.2 million births, but today that figure stands at 4 million. The total fertility rate (births per woman) was 2.1 in 2005-2006, and today it is 2.0. However, recent statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics suggests that this rate could actually fall below 2.0.

Hispanics in America Divided on Identity

On April 4, the Pew Research Center released a survey conducted on Americans with roots in Spanish-speaking countries. The survey explored how Hispanic adults across three generations identify themselves. 51% of Hispanics most identify themselves by their family's country of origin, using terms such as Puerto Rican, Cuban, or Mexican. 24% refer to themselves as Hispanic or Latino, and only 21% use the term "American." However, breaking Hispanics apart by generation paints a different picture:

1^st generation - those who are foreign-born - 62% identify themselves by their country of origin, 28% choose "Hispanic" or "Latino," and just 8% choose American.
2^nd generation - those who were born in America and have at least one 1^st generation parent - are much more divided on which term to use. 43% use their family's country of origin, 35% use American, while only 18% use Hispanic or Latino.
3^rd generation - those born in the U.S., with both parents born in America as well - Hispanics were the only generation that favored the term "American" over their family's country of origin. 48% refer to themselves as "American," while 28% use their country of origin, and 21% identify themselves as "Latino" or "Hispanic."

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