Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Children] [loose booklets] [2 copies]

Changing America: Indicators of Social and Economic Well-Being by Race and Hispanic Origin This chart book documents current differences in well-being by race and Hispanic origin and describes how such differences have evolved over the past several decades. The book is designed to further one of the goals of the President's Initiative on Race: To educate Americans about the facts surrounding the issue of race in America. The book includes key indicators of well-being in seven broad categories: Population Labor markets Health Housing & neighborhoods Education Economic status Crime & criminal justice Whenever the data are available, the charts compare trends in the U.S. population among whites, blacks, Hispanics, Asians and American Indians. Several themes occur across the charts: Race and ethnicity continue to be salient predictors of well-being in American society. Non-Hispanic whites and Asians tend to experience advantages in health, education, and economic status relative to blacks, Hispanics, and American Indians. Over the second half of the 20th century, black Americans have made substantial progress relative to whites in many areas. But this progress generally slowed, or even reversed between the mid-1970s and early 1990s. Data from the 1990s show renewed gains, but in many cases large disparities persist. The relative economic status of Hispanics has generally declined over the past 25 years. However, the Hispanic population has grown rapidly, more than doubling in size between 1980 and 1997, in large part because of immigration. These Hispanic immigrants have lower average levels of education and income, which has contributed to the decline in average Hispanic social and economic well-being. The evolution of well-being among the children and grandchildren of these immigrants will be important in determining the future social and economic status of Hispanics. Asian and Pacific Islanders are nearly as well-off as non-Hispanic whites, according to many indicators. There is great diversity within this population, however, and some subpopulations are quite disadvantaged. For instance, Asians have both a higher median income and a higher poverty rate than non-Hispanic whites, illustrating the economic diversity of the Asian population. American Indians are among the most disadvantaged Americans according to many available indicators, such as poverty rates and median income, although comparable data for this group are sparse due to their small representation in the population. The book is divided into seven sections, one for each topical area. Each section begins with a brief introduction and an overview of the charts presented in that section. The appendix provides a list of other government publications and internet addresses where the reader can find more information on the topics covered in this book.