It’s official, there are now more Hispanics being born in the U.S. than immigrating to the United States. The implications are clear, a growth of diversity, and the shrinking of the “white” population. With an astounding 53 million Hispanic immigrants living in the United States today, there is no question that the growth will only continue expanding and the Hispanic community influence on all things American will only increase. This change in demographics will most surly have an affect on the economy, education, and especially politics. With an Hispanic Supreme Court Judge and more and more Hispanic officials being elected, it makes me how wonder how policies will change in the United States in the next 30 years.
Synonymously however, with over a 5 percent increase from 12.5 to 16.9 percent in Hispanic population, one also can’t help but wonder why the Hispanic community hasn’t made larger steps towards equality. According to U.S.A Today, almost 30 percent of Hispanics living without life insurance, over double the rate of the white population. It makes me wonder if this is mostly due to financial burden or if the issue runs deeper than that.
I once befriended a man who worked as a gardener. He worked with sharp tools and heavy equipment everyday but was not cover by life insurance. When asked why, he explained that it wasn’t the money but rather his dad was undocumented and he was fearful that his application would bring his father to suspicion. Stories like this make me reevaluate the simplicity of things like life insurance and when one can be covered. That being said, if the U.S. births increase, complication for the Hispanic community will only be minimized. What will the future bring? 2042? Equality?
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/04/29/us-born-hispanics-overtake-immigrants/8456933/
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/sites/jchs.harvard.edu/files/jchs_americas_rental_housing_2013_1_0.pdf
This study is really fascinating, I would recommend skimming it (since it’s really really long). Here were some crazy points:
1.There has been a dramatic increase in the amount of renters from almost every age group (the exception being people over 70).
2. Depending on the pace of immigration, this number is likely to increase by between 4 and 4.7 million in the next ten years.
3. One in five households that were in their 30s in 2001 switched from owning to renting at some point in
2001–11, as did nearly one in seven of those in their 40s.
4. Contrary to the stereotype, families with children are nearly as likely to rent their homes as singles.
5. Assuming current rentership rates, the aging of the baby-boom generation will lift the number of renters over age 65 by 2.2 million in the ten years to 2023, generating roughly half of overall renter growth.
6. As the number of low-income renters have grown, the likelihood of assistance (i.e rent subsidies) have diminished.
This study was quoted in a CNN OpEd on affordable housing. http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/28/opinion/rubinger-affordable-housing/
Also in that article was a study done by NYU Furman Center: according to them, more than 45,000 existing lower-cost homes will return to market value by the end of De Blasio’s first term. http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/NYChousing_Preservation.pdf
