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Why Birthrates Among Hispanic Americans Have Plummeted
[NYT] WENDELL, N.C. ‐ Yoselin Wences grew up with a constant refrain from her parents, immigrants from Mexico who became a landscaper and a cook."The mind-set was, ’Don’t be like us,’" she said. "’Don’t get married early. Don’t have children early. Don’t be one of those teen moms. We made these sacrifices so that you can get educated and start a career.’" She followed that advice, and now, at 22, Ms. Wences, a junior at North Carolina State University, will soon become the first member of her family to graduate from college. When asked about children, Ms. Wences replied that for her, they were years away. "Probably around 34 or 35," she said. "That age range seems ideal to me." As fertility rates across the United States continue to decline ‐ 2017 had the country’s lowest rate since the government started keeping records ‐ some of the largest drops have been among Hispanics. The birthrate for Hispanic women fell by 31 percent from 2007 to 2017, a steep decline that demographers say has been driven in part by generational differences between Hispanic immigrants and their American-born daughters and granddaughters. It is a story of becoming more like other Americans. Nearly two-thirds of Hispanics in the United States today are born in this country, a fact that is often lost in the noisy political battles over immigration. Young American-born Hispanic women are less likely to be poor and more likely to be educated than their immigrant mothers and grandmothers, according to the Pew Research Center, and many are delaying childbearing to finish school and start careers, just like other American-born women. "Hispanics are in essence catching up to their peers," said Lina Guzman, a demographer at Child Trends, a nonprofit research group. Posted by: Besoeker 2019-03-08 |
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