There are possible alternative definitions of Hispanic households. For example, in March 1991 there were 6.8 million households in which either the householder or the spouse was Hispanic. In addition, there were about 7.1 million households with at least one Hispanic member age 14 and over.

Household Composition. In March 1991, the householder was of Mexican origin in the majority of Hispanic households (58 percent). Among the rest of Hispanic

households about 13 percent were maintained by persons of Central and South American origin, 13 percent Puerto Rican, 7 percent Cuban, and 9 percent Other Hispanic (table 3).

Hispanic households were more likely to contain families than were non-Hispanic households. In March 1991, 80 percent of Hispanic households were family households compared to 70 percent of non-Hispanic households. Conversely, 20 percent of Hispanic households were maintained by a person living alone or with nonrelatives only, compared to 30 percent of nonHispanic households (table 3).

Household Size. The average size of Hispanic households (3.48 persons) in March 1991, was larger than that of non-Hispanic households (2.58 persons). About 12 percent of Hispanic households had six or more members compared with 3 percent of non-Hispanic households. Among the subgroups, Mexican households had the highest proportion of these large households (15 percent).

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAMILIES

Family Composition. In March 1991, there were 66 million families in the United States, of which 8 percent were Hispanic. The composition and size of Hispanic families in March 1991 was different than that of nonHispanic families. About 69 percent of Hispanic families were married-couple families, compared to about 79 percent of non-Hispanic families. Families maintained by a female householder with no husband present were 24 percent of all Hispanic families, compared to 16 percent of non-Hispanic families. Families maintained by a male with no wife present were about 7 percent of Hispanic and about 4 percent of non-Hispanic families. Among the Hispanic subgroups, families of Puerto Rican origin were the least likely to be maintained by a married couple (52 percent) and the most likely to be maintained by a woman with no husband present (43 percent) (table 4).

Family size. In March 1991, Hispanic families on the average were larger than non-Hispanic families (3.80 persons and 3.13 persons, respectively). About 29 percent of Hispanic families had five or more members compared to about half of that proportion (13 percent) for non-Hispanic families. Among the subgroups, Mexican families had the highest proportion of families with five or more members (34 percent). About one of every six Mexican families had six or more members (table 4).

INCOME AND EARNINGS

Aggregate Hispanic Household Income.14 The aggregate before tax money income of all Hispanic households has increased significantly since 1982, even after adjusting for the increase in the cost of living during the period. The 1990 total aggregate income of Hispanic households was $173 billion, an increase of 67 percent from the 1982 total of $104 billion. The aggregate income of Hispanic households in 1990 was about 5 percent of the United States total income figure of $3.5 trillion.

14The 1982, after-tax estimates include the effect of Federal and State income taxes, payroll taxes, and property taxes. The 1990 estimates include the effect of Federal and State income taxes and payroll taxes only.

The after tax aggregate income of Hispanic households has also increased significantly within the past eight years. In 1990, the Hispanic after tax income totaled $144 billion, as compared to $85 billion in 1982, for an increase of about 70 percent during the period. The after tax aggregate income of Hispanic households in 1990 was about 5 percent of the United States total of $2.8 trillion.

In contrast to the substantial increase in the before and after tax aggregate income of Hispanic households, the aggregate income of non-Hispanic households has grown by a more modest rate since 1982. The aggregate household income of the non-Hispanic population has increased by 26 percent from $2.7 trillion in 1982 to $3.3 trillion in 1990, while the aggregate after tax increase has increased by 28 percent from $2.1 trillion in 1982 to $2.6 trillion in 1990 (see table B and figure 3).

Household Income. The median Hispanic household income (before taxes) was higher in 1990 than in 1982

after adjusting for the increase in the cost of living during the period (table A).15 Nevertheless, Hispanic households tend to have lower incomes than nonHispanic households. In 1990, the median money income of Hispanic households was $22,300 compared to $30,500 for non-Hispanic households. Among the Hispanic subgroups, Puerto Ricans had the lowest median household income of $16,200 in 1990 (table 3).

An analysis of the income distribution shows that the proportion of Hispanic households with incomes of $50,000 or more (13.4 percent) in 1990 was higher than in 1982 (10.6 percent). By comparison, the proportion of Hispanic households with incomes below $10,000 was less in 1990 than in 1982 (21.1 percent compared with 24.0 percent) (table A).

15In 1982, Hispanic household median income was $20,557 ± $893, expressed in 1990 dollars, compared to $22,330 ± $694 in 1990.

The disparity in household income between the Hispanic and non-Hispanic populations is also apparent in the income distribution for each group. For example, about 21 percent of Hispanic households had incomes below $10,000 in 1990, compared to 15 percent of non-Hispanic households. Conversely, about 13 percent of Hispanic households as compared to 25 percent of non-Hispanic households had incomes of $50,000 or more in 1990. The number of Hispanic households with incomes of $50,000 or more were about 4 percent of all such households, while Hispanic households with incomes of $10,000 or less were about 9 percent of these households (table 3).

Family Income. The median income of Hispanic families ($23,400) was about 64 percent of the median of non-Hispanic families ($36,300). Among Hispanic subgroups, family incomes varied from $18,000 for Puerto Rican and $23,200 for Mexican to $31,400 for Cuban origin families. Hispanic family income in 1990, after adjusting for the increase in the cost of living during the period, was not significantly higher than it was in 1982 (table A).16

16In 1982, Hispanic family median income was $21,978 + $923, expressed in 1990 dollars, compared to $23,431 + $1,022.

The proportion of Hispanic families with incomes of $50,000 or more increased from about 12 percent in 1982 to about 15 percent in 1990. The proportion of Hispanic families with incomes below $10,000 was approximately 20 percent in 1982 as compared to about 19 percent in 1990, the difference in these figures, however, is not statistically significant (table A).

The family income distribution of Hispanics varied by Hispanic subgroup in 1990. The proportion of Puerto Rican origin families earning less than $10,000 in 1990 (34 percent) was the most of any Hispanic subgroup. Proportionately more Cuban families had incomes of $50,000 or more than did the Mexican origin families (table 4).

Earnings of Persons.17 Hispanics, 15 years of age and older with earnings in 1990, tended to have lower earnings than did non-Hispanics. The median earnings of Hispanic men in 1990 ($14,100) was about 64 percent that of non-Hispanic men ($22,200), while the median earnings of Hispanic women ($10,100) was about 81 percent that of non-Hispanic women ($12,400).

17Earnings in this report are calculated for all civilian workers 15 years old and over and not for year-round, full-time workers (see Appendix A for definitions). Some of the differences in earnings noted among groups may be effected by differences in the number of weeks and hours worked.

The differences in earnings between Hispanics and non-Hispanics can be further examined by comparing the distribution of the earnings. In March 1991, about 77 percent of Hispanic males earned less than $25,000 a year, compared to 55 percent for non-Hispanic males. About 4 percent of Hispanic males had earnings of $50,000 or more as compared to about 13 percent of non-Hispanic males. Among women with earnings, 50 percent of Hispanic and about 41 percent of nonHispanic women had earnings of less than $10,000. About 12 percent of Hispanic women reported earnings of $25,000 or more in 1990 compared to 20 percent of non-Hispanic women (table 2).

POVERTY

Family Poverty. Hispanic families are more likely to be in poverty than non-Hispanic families. Based on 1990 income figures, 25 percent of Hispanic families fell below the poverty level, as compared to 9.5 percent of non-Hispanic families. In 1990, 17 percent of Hispanic families in poverty were maintained by persons 65 years of age and older compared to 5.9 percent of nonhispanic families in poverty. About half, (48.3 percent) of Hispanic families in poverty were maintained by females without a husband present, compared to 31.7 percent of non-Hispanic families in poverty.

Among subgroups, families of Puerto Rican origin were the most likely to be in poverty in 1990 (37.5 percent). The high poverty rate among the Puerto Rican families may be related, at least in part, to a high proportion of families maintained by females without a

spouse present. In 1990, about two-thirds (64.4 percent) of the Puerto Rican families maintained by a female without a spouse present were in poverty (table 4). Persons below poverty. About 28.1 percent of Hispanic persons in the United States were living in poverty in 1990. In comparison, 12.1 percent of non-Hispanics were living in poverty. One in every six persons (17.9 percent) living in poverty were of Hispanic origin. About half of all Hispanic persons in poverty were children under 18 years (47.7 percent); a similar percentage were between the ages of 18 to 64 years (48.2 percent), while about 4.1 percent were 65 years old and over.

Children below poverty. Over one third (38.4 percent) of Hispanic children were living in poverty in 1990 as compared to about one fifth (18.3 percent) of nonHispanic children. Among the subgroups, the highest rate of child poverty was reported for children of Puerto Rican origin, with about one half (56.7 percent) living in poverty. The poverty rate of children of Mexican, Central and South American and Other Hispanic origin were about 36 percent each (figure 4).18 The proportion of Cuban origin children in poverty was 31 percent.19 Finally, Hispanic children represented 21 percent of all children living in poverty but only 11 percent of all children in the United States.

18The difference between the poverty rates of children of Mexican, Central and South Americans, and Other Hispanics is not statistically significant.

19The difference between Cuban, Central and South American, Mexican, and Other Hispanic children in poverty is not statistically significant.