Biweekly Public Opinion Roundup: Latinos in the U.S.

With Eleni Delimpaltadaki

Over the next few decades, the United Sates’ Latino population is estimated to triple, comprising about 29% of US residents. At the same time, voters of Latin descent made up 7.4% of the electorate. In a continuing effort to better understand the attitudes and values of Latinos as expressed in survey studies in the past, we rounded up below findings from recent months.

The Pew Hispanic Center released today a new survey of Latinos focusing especially on young people who are ages 16 to 25. The survey explores the “attitudes, values, social behaviors, family characteristics, economic well-being, educational attainment and labor force outcomes of these young Latinos”. We will look more carefully at this study in one of our upcoming blog postings, but we wanted to bring attention to the racial identification of Latinos in this survey, in case it’s taken out of context in the various coverage of the study. Three out of four Latinos don’t identify themselves as white in the race question (“What race do you consider yourself to be: white, black or African- American, Asian, or some other race?”), or they volunteer that their race is Hispanic or Latino, although based on the U.S. Census these terms are used to describe ethnicity. This finding is consistent with what we see in studies of Latinos every day. The questions usually asked and response choices offered to identify the respondent’s ethnicity and race are not aligned with the way Latinos think about race.

Opportunity

The Public Agenda released a report in September called “A Place to Call Home”. 

• 63% of immigrants from Mexico believe that with hard work, there is greater opportunity to be successful in the US without connections to people that can help.
• 36% believe connections to people that can help you are necessary to be successful in the US.
• 96% believe that there is greater opportunity in the US to earn a good living, compared to the opportunity in Mexico.
• 34% of immigrants from Mexico report that they feel there is a great deal of discrimination towards people from their birth country, as opposed to 15% of immigrants overall expressing the same.
• 88% of Mexican immigrants somewhat or strongly agree with the assertion that to make it in the US you have to work hard, nothing is free.

On a more pessimistic note, The Latino Policy Coalition released a survey showing one in four of Latinos express the belief that their children will be worse off than themselves, in regards to the economy and standard of living.

Economic Stimulus

A New America Media poll found:

• 67% of Latinos believe Obama’s stimulus package is a good thing for their family and community, as opposed to 45% of whites and 84% of blacks
• 47% of Latinos assert that only the large corporations will benefit from the economic stimulus, compared to 39% of whites and 33% of blacks
• 34% of Latinos were aware of new community or regional infrastructure construction or renovation projects, compared to 44% of whites and 59% of blacks
• 8% of Latinos were aware of local community organizations receiving stimulus dollars for various programs, compared to 23% of whites and 36% of blacks

Education

A Pew Hispanic Center survey found that:

• 92% of foreign-born Latinos express that a college education is important for getting ahead in life, compared to 83% of native-born Latinos and 74% of the general public
• Only 29% of foreign-born Latino youths (16-25) and 60% of native-born Latino youths hope to obtain a bachelor’s degree or more
• 65% of foreign-born Latino youths expressed that they are unable to continue their education due to limited English skills
• Large majorities of both foreign-born (76%) and native-born (70%) Latino youths cite responsibilities to family as a significant reason why they are unable to continue their education

Health Care

A Latino Decisions survey found:

• 32% of Latinos rated health care as the most pressing issue for Obama and Congress to address in coming year before the 2010 election
• 62% say it is very or extremely important that immigration reform is passed before the 2010 congressional election
• Given choice between the two issues, a majority of respondents chose health care (67%) as the topic most in need of addressing before the 2010 election.

On abortion, according to a Pew survey:

• 39% of Latinos believe abortion should be legal, compared to 47% of whites and 50% of blacks
• 25% of Latinos rank abortion as a critical issue, compared to 14% of whites and 14% of blacks

Immigration Reform

A survey by America's Voice found:

• 82% of Latino voters report that the issue of immigration was “personally important”
• 87% of Latino voters surveyed would not support a candidate who favored deportation for undocumented immigrants
• 83% of respondents believed Obama would “do the right thing” when passing comprehensive reform

In another America's Voice survey, 89% of Latinos were in favor of providing illegal immigrants with a path to citizenship.

For more research and positive reform advocacy regarding Latinos, check The Opportunity Agenda's latest study. This research revealed that American born Latinos are first and foremost Americans, so their responses take the same general contours as everyone else. If anything, they are quicker to make the argument that illegal immigrants do jobs other won't. Latinos want an immigration system that is fair and accessible to immigrants.

Citizenship

New America Media conducted a survey of 1,002 female immigrants, and found that it may be the women that are advocating for legal citizenship within the family unit.  A large majority of Latin American women want to be citizens (90%) and 60% of them report being the person in their family that feels the strongest about becoming a citizen.  The main reason for pursuing citizenship, according to one in four Latin American women, was to avoid separation from children.

Values

The 2009 Values Survey conducted by Pew shows:

Party Affiliation - Latinos made up 14% of the adult population, 15% of the Democratic Party, but only 6% of the Republican Party.

Government - Latinos are the most optimistic ethnic group in regards to the role of government, with 66% saying that government is run for the benefit of all, compared to 50% of blacks and 45% of whites.

Same Sex Marriage – 36% of Latinos favor same sex marriage, compared to 35% of whites and 33% of blacks. 

Patriotism – 33% of Latinos report being “very patriotic”, compared to 54% of whites and 37% of blacks