Understanding the Influence of Latino Diversity over Child Poverty in the United States

Abstract

The U.S. Latino population is diverse in terms of countries of heritage, citizenship status, languages spoken, generational status, and geographic settlement patterns. The likelihood of Latino children living in poverty is often associated with these features of Latino diversity; we challenge that view with analyses showing that the underlying economic conditions of families across demographic groups explain much of the likelihood that a child will experience poverty. We use data from the American Community Survey to examine the extent to which the associations between features of diversity and poverty are explained by differences in socioeconomic characteristics. We find that the relationship between parental heritage and child poverty is largely explained by socioeconomic characteristics. Parental citizenship and English language proficiency, while partly attenuated by socioeconomic characteristics, also have direct effects on the likelihood of a child living in poverty, suggesting that programs and policies may need to be tailored to support the economic well-being of these particularly vulnerable subgroups.