Latinos May Be More Educated, Wealthier: Here’s Why We Don’t Know It |
Latinos May Be More Educated, Wealthier: Here’s Why We Don’t Know It
NBC News
2016-02-24
U.S. Latinos may be more educated and have higher earnings than what current numbers suggest, and new research explores why.
There are individuals who have Latino ancestors, but do not self-identify as Hispanic in national demographic surveys. Therefore, these people are not included in the overall U.S. Latino population, according to Stephen Trejo, an economics professor at the University of Texas at Austin who co-authored a research paper on the topic.
This phenomenon — often referred to as ethnic attrition — is more common among second- and higher-generation Latinos who also tend to be more educated and have higher earnings than their counterparts.
As a result “we’re probably understating the educational progress” of Hispanics in the U.S., said Trejo to NBC News Latino. “Unfortunately, we don’t have a good idea of the magnitude of this because the data that we have isn’t perfect,” he added.
While 99 percent of first-generation Latinos identify as such, it drops to 93 percent in the second generation and 82 percent in the third generation, according to Trejo’s findings. And second- and third-generation Latinos who did not identify as Hispanic were more educated than their peers – by an average of 9 months for the second generation and about 10 months for the third, the study found…
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Tags: Brian Duncan, Griselda Nevarez, NBC News, Stephen J. Trejo, Stephen Trejo