Highlights 2007-08 data on the population of children of immigrants up to age 17, including distribution by state, race/ethnicity, poverty, English proficiency, parents' region of origin, and education, ans well as factors driving trends

Karina Fortuny

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Children of Immigrants: 2008 State Trends UpdateKarina FortunyBrief 17, September 2010THE URBAN INSTITUTEThis brief updates perspectives brief 9, “Childrenof Immigrants: National and State Characteristics,”which profiled children of immigrants as of2005–06 (Fortuny et al. 2009). The current briefpresents data highlights from the 2007 and 2008American Community Surveys. These and otherindicators on children can be obtained on theUrban Institute’s Children of Immigrants DataTool web site.1Immigration Flows andPopulation MomentumContribute to Rising Numbers of Children of Immigrantsm Growth in immigration during the 1990s andafterward resulted in a larger number of chil-dren in immigrant families. Between 1990 and2008, the share of U.S. children with immi-grant parents increased from 13 percent to23 percent.2 In 2008, 16.5 million childrenage 0 to 17 had at least one immigrant parent,a 5 percent increase from 15.7 million in2005–06 and a twofold increase from 8.3 mil-lion in 1990.3m Most of the growth in the number of U.S.children age 0 to 17 from 1990 to 2007 comesfrom children of immigrants. The number ofchildren in native families increased by 2.1million, while the number of children with atleast one immigrant parent grew by 8.1 mil-lion, accounting for 77 percent of the increasein children in the United States (Fortuny andChaudry 2009).New High-Growth ImmigrantStates Continue to ExperienceGrowth in Children of Immigrantsm Immigrant populations are still heavily con-centrated in the six traditional immigrant des-tination states. California, New York, Texas,Florida, Illinois, and New Jersey account for65 percent of children of immigrants in 2008.Their share has fallen, however, from 73 per-cent in 1990, as immigrants increasingly settlein nontraditional states (figure 1).m Between 1990 and 2008, the number of chil-dren of immigrants increased by 77 percent in the six traditional immigrant states. Manyother states experienced growth rates four tofive times as high (appendix table 1). Thesestates include North Carolina (an increase of508 percent), Nevada (454 percent), Georgia(444 percent), Arkansas (400 percent),Nebraska (350 percent), and Tennessee (348 percent).m Across the 22 new-growth states, the share of children who were children of immigrantstripled from an average of 5 percent to 15 percent (appendix table 1).m As a result of the rapid growth, many high-growth states rank higher on the size of theirpopulations of children of immigrants in 2008than in 1990. North Carolina ranked 23rdamong all states in 1990 and 11th in 2008.Nevada climbed from 24th to 17th between1990 and 2008. Similarly, Georgia movedfrom 16th to 8th and Arkansas from 42nd toPERSPECTIVESONLOW-INCOMEWORKINGFAMILIES32nd. On the other hand, some states withtraditionally large immigrant populations,such as Massachusetts, Michigan, andPennsylvania, slipped down the ranks.m In 2008, children of immigrants accounted forhalf of children in California. Across the UnitedStates, children of immigrants account formore than 30 percent of children in six statesand between 20 and 30 percent of children in 12 states. Their share is between 10 and 20 percent in 13 states and lower in theremaining 20 states (figure 2).More Than Half of Children of Immigrants Are Hispanicm Nationally, 56 percent of children of immi-grants are Hispanic. The Hispanic share rangesfrom 3 percent in Vermont to 84 percent inNew Mexico. In addition to New Mexico,Hispanics represent more than two-thirds of children of immigrants in Arizona (80 per-cent), Texas (79 percent), Nevada (72 per-cent), Arkansas (70 percent), and Kansas andCalifornia (67 percent). Nationally, more than half of children of immigrants have par-ents from Latin American countries—Mexico(42 percent), Central America and Spanish-speaking Caribbean (or “Central America,” 11 percent), and South America (6 percent)—which explains the high Hispanic share (figure 3).m Beyond Hispanics, children of immigrantshave diverse origins. Nationally, 11 percent ofthem have parents from Europe, Canada, andAustralia (“Europe”). Twenty-two percent ofchildren of immigrants have origins in Asia:10 percent have parents from East Asia andthe Pacific (“East Asia”), 8 percent from theMiddle East and South Asia (“Middle East”),and 4 percent from Southeast Asia. Childrenwith origins in Africa and the West Indies(“Africa”) account for 8 percent of all childrenof immigrants.Nearly a Fifth of Children of Immigrants Are EnglishLanguage Learners, and MoreThan Half Have ELL Parentsm Nationally, 18 percent of children of immi-grants age 5 and over are English languagelearners (ELLs).4 The ELL share is close to thenational average (18–20 percent) in eightstates: South Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin,Indiana, California, Illinois, Kentucky, and New Mexico. The ELL share is above 20 percent in 10 states: Oregon (21 percent),An Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies2FIGURE 1.  Distribution across States of Children of Immigrants Age 0–17, 2007–08Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys.Note: The new-growth states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota,Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington (Capps et al. 2007).16.5 million children of immigrantsOther states(23)2,357,00014%New-growth states(22)3,444,00021%New Jersey645,0004%Illinois769,0005%Florida1,174,0007%New York1,464,0009%Texas2,079,00013%California4,523,00027%An Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies3FIGURE 2.  Share of Children Age 0–17 with Immigrant Parents by State, 2007–08Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys.WAORCANVIDMTWYUTAZ NMCONDSDNEKSOKTXMNIAMOARLAMSTNALFLGAILWIMIMIINKYOHMEVTNHNY MACT RINJPAWVMD DEVANCSC<10%10–19%20–30%>30%AKHIFIGURE 3.  Children of Immigrants Age 0–17 by Parents’ Region of Origin, 2007–08Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys.16.5 million children of immigrantsAfrica and West Indies8%Europe, Canada,and Australia11%Middle East andSouth Asia8%Southeast Asia4%East Asiaand Pacific10%South America6%Central America andSpanish-speakingCaribbean11%Mexico42%An Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies4Washington (21 percent), Nebraska (22 per-cent), Minnesota (22 percent), Alabama (23 percent), Colorado (23 percent), NorthCarolina (24 percent), Arkansas (24 percent),Arizona (25 percent), and Texas (27 percent).m More than half (61 percent) of children ofimmigrants nationally have one or two ELLparents. The share of children with ELL par-ents is lowest in Montana (15 percent) andhighest in Texas (71 percent). In 12 statesbesides Texas, the share is above the nationalaverage: Arizona and Arkansas (70 percenteach), California (68 percent), Oklahoma andNebraska (67 percent each), Nevada (66 per-cent), Oregon and New Mexico (65 percenteach), Illinois (64 percent), Colorado andNorth Carolina (63 percent each), and Kansas(62 percent).Parental Education VariesSubstantially by Region of Originm While virtually all young children of native-born parents have parents with at least 9thgrade educations, 13 percent of children ofimmigrants have parents who have not com-pleted 9th grade.5 An additional 13 percent of children of immigrants have parents withsome high school education but not a highschool degree or the equivalent. Overall, 26 percent of children of immigrants haveparents with less than high school degrees,compared with 7 percent of children ofnative-born parents.m There is less difference at the higher end of theeducation distribution. While children ofimmigrants are somewhat less likely than chil-dren of natives to have parents with four-yearcollege degrees (17 versus 21 percent), theshare of children with parents who have mas-ter’s degrees or higher education is the samefor children of immigrants and those ofnative-born parents (14 percent).m Parental education varies widely by region of origin. Forty-seven percent of children ofMexican origin and 31 percent of children ofCentral American origin have parents who havenot completed high school (figure 4). Childrenof Middle Eastern and East Asian origin are themost likely to have parents with four-yearFIGURE 4.  Parental Education of Children of Immigrants Age 0–17 by Parent’s Region of Origin, 2007–08 (percent)Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys.0 10 20 30 40 50Percent60 70 80 90 100Less than high schoolHigh school or some collegeFour-year college degree or more educationEurope, Canada,and AustraliaAfrica and West IndiesMiddle Eastand South AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast Asiaand PacificSouth AmericaCentral America andSpanish-speaking CaribbeanMexicoAll childrenof immigrants8464726 43 3119513150 4286530420 48 3226 69557403405010An Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies5college degrees or more education—69 and 65 percent, respectively. The college-educatedrate is also above the 36 percent rate for chil-dren of natives among children of European (57 percent), South American (42 percent),and African (40 percent) origin.Young Children of ImmigrantsAre Disproportionately Poor or Low Incomem Children of immigrants account for 29 per-cent of poor children and 30 percent of low-income children.6 About half of children ofimmigrants (49 percent) live in low-incomefamilies, compared with 35 percent of chil-dren of natives. The poverty rate for childrenof immigrants is also higher than the rate forchildren of natives (21 versus 15 percent).m The poverty shares for children of immigrantsvary by state. The poverty rates for these chil-dren are below 10 percent in eight states:Wyoming (2 percent), New Hampshire (4 per-cent), Vermont (5 percent), Alaska (6 percent),Maryland (7 percent), District of Columbia (8 percent), Connecticut (9 percent), andHawaii (9 percent). The poverty rate is highestin New Mexico (34 percent), followed by Texas,Oklahoma, and Maine (at 30 percent), andArizona, Colorado, Arkansas, and Tennessee(at 28 percent).m The low-income shares for children of immi-grants also vary widely across states, from 17 percent in New Hampshire to 67 percentin Arkansas. Similar to the poverty rates, New Mexico (66 percent), Texas (64 percent),Arizona (63 percent), and Oklahoma (62 per-cent) have the highest low-income rates.Notes1. The Children of Immigrants Data Tool is an interactiveweb site that generates charts and tables with statistics on children age 0–17 for the United States and for the 50 states and the District of Columbia using data fromthe American Community Survey. See http://datatool.urban.org.2. Unless stated otherwise, data in this brief are taken fromthe Integrated Public Use Microdata Series datasets(Ruggles et al. 2008) drawn from the 2007 and 2008U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey(ACS). The 2008 estimates are averaged across 2007 and 2008 ACS data.FIGURE 5.  Share of Children of Immigrants Age 0–17 in Poor and Near-Poor Familes, 10 States withHighest Poverty Rates, 2007–08Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 2007 and 2008 American Community Surveys.PercentPoor (<100% of FPL) Near-poor (100–199% of FPL)66313421 28 4964333032 623063352828 39 6728 28 5630 16 4630 58284821265933260 10 20 30 40 50 60 70North CarolinaKentuckyTennesseeArkansasColoradoArizonaMaineOklahomaTexasNew MexicoAll children of immigrantsAn Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies63. An immigrant or foreign-born person is someone bornoutside the United States and its territories. People bornin the United States, Puerto Rico, and other territories,or born abroad to U.S. citizen parents, are native born.Children with immigrant parents have at least oneforeign-born parent.4. English language learners report that they speak a language other than English at home and speak Englishwell, not well, or not at all. English-fluent persons speakEnglish exclusively or very well. English fluency is notrecorded for children under age 5.5. Parental education is defined as the highest attainment ofthe mother and/or father.6. Poor is family income below the federal poverty level,and low income is family income below twice the federalpoverty level. Poverty levels are adjusted for family size.In 2007, the federal poverty level was $21,203 for afamily of four, slightly higher for larger families, andlower for smaller families. Twice the federal poverty level in 2007 was $42,406 for a family of four.ReferencesCapps, Randy, Everett Henderson, John D. Kasarda, JamesH. Johnson Jr., Stephen J. Appold, Derrek L. Croney,Donald J. Hernandez, and Michael Fix. 2007. A Profile ofImmigrants in Arkansas: Executive Summary. Washington,DC: The Urban Institute.Fortuny, Karina, and Ajay Chaudry. 2009. “Children ofImmigrants: Immigration Trends.” Children of ImmigrantsFact Sheet 1. Washington, DC: The Urban Institute.Fortuny, Karina, Randy Capps, Margaret Simms, and AjayChaudry. 2009. “Children of Immigrants: National and State Characteristics.” Perspectives on Low-IncomeWorking Families Brief 9. Washington, DC: The UrbanInstitute.Ruggles, S., M. Sobek, T. Alexander, C. A. Fitch, R. Goeken,P. K. Hall, M. King, and C. Ronnander. 2008. IntegratedPublic Use Microdata Series: Version 4.0 (machine-readabledatabase). Minneapolis: Minnesota Population Center(producer and distributor).APPENDIX TABLE 1. Number and Share of Children of Immigrants Age 0–17 by State, 1990–20081990 2007–08Rank % of Rank % of(by children (by children PercentState Number number) in state Number number) in state growthAlabama 21,000 33 2 60,000 33 6 192Alaska 13,000 41 8 20,000 43 11 53Arizona 149,000 8 16 513,000 7 31 245Arkansas 12,000 42 2 62,000 32 9 400California 2,845,000 1 38 4,523,000 1 50 59Colorado 70,000 17 8 247,000 15 21 256Connecticut 98,000 14 13 167,000 19 21 70Delaware 9,000 45 6 32,000 40 16 257District of Columbia 13,000 40 12 22,000 42 20 67Florida 543,000 4 19 1,174,000 4 30 116Georgia 76,000 16 5 413,000 8 17 444Hawaii 67,000 18 25 75,000 31 28 12Idaho 17,000 37 6 54,000 37 13 222Illinois 410,000 5 14 769,000 5 25 88Indiana 42,000 25 3 120,000 24 8 185Iowa 17,000 36 2 54,000 36 8 226Kansas 33,000 31 5 87,000 29 13 164Kentucky 15,000 38 2 45,000 39 5 192Louisiana 41,000 26 3 52,000 38 5 26Maine 15,000 39 5 17,000 45 6 17Maryland 121,000 13 11 279,000 13 21 131Massachusetts 206,000 7 16 327,000 10 23 59Michigan 139,000 9 6 245,000 16 10 77An Urban Institute Program to Assess Changing Social Policies7APPENDIX TABLE 1.    (continued)1990 2007–08Rank % of Rank % of(by children (by children PercentState Number number) in state Number number) in state growthMinnesota 52,000 21 5 164,000 20 13 213Mississippi 10,000 44 1 19,000 44 3 87Missouri 36,000 29 3 88,000 28 6 147Montana 5,000 48 2 9,000 46 4 71Nebraska 12,000 43 3 55,000 35 12 350Nevada 43,000 24 15 241,000 17 37 454New Hampshire 17,000 35 6 25,000 41 9 45New Jersey 351,000 6 20 645,000 6 32 84New Mexico 52,000 22 12 99,000 26 21 91New York 973,000 2 24 1,464,000 3 34 50North Carolina 52,000 23 3 316,000 11 15 508North Dakota 4,000 51 2 5,000 51 4 32Ohio 92,000 15 3 155,000 21 6 69Oklahoma 34,000 30 4 92,000 27 11 172Oregon 56,000 19 8 177,000 18 21 215Pennsylvania 126,000 12 5 262,000 14 10 108Rhode Island 40,000 27 18 58,000 34 26 44South Carolina 21,000 34 2 82,000 30 8 296South Dakota 4,000 50 2 8,000 47 4 116Tennessee 27,000 32 2 121,000 23 9 348Texas 912,000 3 19 2,079,000 2 32 128Utah 38,000 28 6 132,000 22 16 243Vermont 6,000 47 4 8,000 49 6 22Virginia 126,000 11 9 309,000 12 17 145Washington 137,000 10 11 358,000 9 24 162West Virginia 7,000 46 2 8,000 48 2 10Wisconsin 53,000 20 4 114,000 25 9 116Wyoming 5,000 49 3 6,000 50 4 21United States 8,263,000 13 16,455,000 23 99Big six states 6,035,000 25 10,653,000 37 77New-growth states 943,000 5 3,444,000 15 265Other 1,285,000 7 2,357,000 12 83Source: Urban Institute tabulations from the IPUMS datasets drawn from the 1990 U.S. Census of Population and Housing, 5 percent sample, and the 2007 and 2008American Community Surveys.Notes: Numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand. Numbers may not sum to totals because of rounding. Percentages are based on unrounded numbers. The new-growthstates are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nebraska, Nevada,Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington (Capps et al. 2007).The views expressed are those of author and do not necessarily reflect those of theUrban Institute, its boards, its sponsors, or other authors in the series. Permission isgranted for reproduction of this document with attribution to the Urban Institute.THE URBAN INSTITUTE2100 M Street, NWWashington, DC 20037-1231Return Service RequestedNonprofit Org.US Postage PAIDEaston, MDPermit No. 8098THE URBAN INSTITUTE2100 M Street, NWWashington, DC 20037Copyright © 2010Phone: 202-833-7200Fax: 202-467-5775E-mail: pubs@urban.orgTo download this document, visitour web site, http://www.urban.org.For media inquiries, please contactpaffairs@urban.org.This brief is part of the Urban Institute’s Low-Income Working Families project, amultiyear effort that focuses on the private- and public-sector contexts for families’ success or failure. Both contexts offer opportunities for better helpingfamilies meet their needs. The Low-Income Working Families project is currently supported by The Annie E.Casey Foundation and The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Children of Immigrants: 2008 State Trends Update

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Children of Immigrants: 2008 State Trends Update

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