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U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-20, No.455,
The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 1991,
U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1991.

For sale by Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

The Hispanic Population in the United States: March 1991

INTRODUCTION

This report presents data on the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the Hispanic origin population in the United States. The Bureau of the Census collected this information in the March 1991 supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS).2 The results in this report do not reflect population controls from the 1990 Census. In addition, this report highlights differences in selected characteristics of Hispanics compared to March 1983. This year was selected as a benchmark for comparison for two reasons. First, the previous recessionary period ended in late 1982, and the most recent began in July of 1990. Using the March 1983 CPS as a basis for comparison allows us to assess how Hispanics have fared during the beginning and end of the last economic recovery period. Second, 1982 was the first year in which the Census Bureau introduced Hispanic population controls based on the 1980 Census, which improved the reliability of the CPS data on Hispanics. Some of the principal findings are summarized below.

HIGHLIGHTS

• The labor force participation rate of Hispanic origin males in March 1991 was higher than that of nonHispanic males (78 percent ±1.2 vs 74 percent ±0.4). The labor force participation rate of nonHispanic females was higher than that of Hispanic females (57 percent ±0.4 and 51 percent +1.3).

• The proportion of Hispanics, 25 years old and over who had completed 4 years of high school or more was 51 percent (±1.4) in 1991 as compared to about 46 percent (±1.7) in 1983.

The population universe in the March 1991 CPS is the civilian noninstitutional population of the United States and members of the Armed Forces in the United States living off post or with their families on post, but excludes all other members of the Armed Forces.

2 Data on earnings, income and poverty in this report refer to the calendar year prior to the survey. For example, income information collected in March 1991 refer to calendar year 1990.

• The aggregate before tax money income of Hispanic households in 1990 was 173 billion (±5.5 billion) dollars and about 5 percent (±0.1) of the total aggregate household income of the United States. This figure was an increase of 70 billion dollars (±6.7 billion) in real terms since 1982. The aggregate after tax income of Hispanic households was 144 billion (±5.5 billion) and about 5 percent (±0.2) of the U.S. total after tax income.

• A higher proportion of Hispanic families (14.7 percent +1.2) and households (13.4 percent ±1.1) had income of $50,000 or more in 1990 than in 1982 (11.8 percent ±1.4 and 10.6 percent ±1.2, respectively), even after adjusting for the increase in the cost of living during the period.

• Over one third (38.4 percent ±2.9) of Hispanic children were living in poverty in 1990 as compared to about one fifth (18.3 percent ±0.8) of non-Hispanic children. Among Hispanic subgroups, about one half of the children of Puerto Rican origin were living in poverty (56.7 percent +8.5).

• Of the total persons in poverty in 1990, the proportion who were children under 18 years of age was larger for Hispanics (47.7 percent ±3.3) than for nonHispanics (38.3 percent ±1.5).

HISPANIC POPULATION COMPOSITION

NOTE: CPS estimates of the Hispanic origin population shown in this report are inflated to national totals using weights derived from independent post-census estimates. These post-census estimates of the Hispanic population were used to eliminate fluctuations in the CPS estimates of the size of the total Hispanic population resulting from sampling variability. In addition, the independent estimates provide a post-census time series of data comparable with the 1980 census information for Hispanics. Independent estimates were developed only for the size of the total Hispanic population and not for subgroups of the Hispanic population. Consequently, figures on the number of persons in each of the Hispanic subgroups, as well as the social and economic characteristics shown in this report, remain subject to sampling error and random annual fluctuations. The size of the Hispanic origin population and its subgroups in this report do not include population controls from the 1990 census results, which is a complete count of the population.

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