Chicano Demographic Trends and Their Impacts Essay Example

Chicanos. The higher rate of immigration has had an impact the Chicano's family structure, their position in the labor market and education system, their political system, and health care (Ontiveros & Randy, 2013 pg. 8-9).

Immigration has been perpetuated by the socioeconomic and volume characteristic of the immigrant Chicano. Also, the high rates of immigration have been initiated by the strong labor recruitment and further fueled by social and economic factors.

The high population growth has led to Chicanos to enter the workforce in great numbers with males taking a higher percentage than women. Since most of the Chicanos are less likely to hold a college degree, they are heavily concentrated in certain sectors and industries. The higher immigration rate has subjected a larger proportion to work in the private sector and is less likely to have a government job (Navarro & José, 2016 pg. 225-227).

Births

The Chicano Births has surpassed the immigration as the dynamic growth in the Chicano population. As per an analysis of U.S Census Bureau data conducted by the Pew Hispanic Centre, the Chicano population grew by 7.2M due to high birth rates and 4.2M as a result of immigrant arrival from 2000-2010 (Passel, Cohn, and Lopez, 2011 pg. 14).

In the previous decades, the number of immigrant arrivals either exceeded or matched the births. The high birth rates are attributed to immigration which has brought more than 10M immigrants to the U.S. since 1970, from Mexico. Between 2006 -2010 alone, more than half of Chicano births were to Mexican immigrants’ parents. The high birth rates can also be attributed to the high fertility rate. Chicanos comprise 16.3% of the U.S. population.

Educational attainment

Education is another

fast-growing demographics among the Chicanos. Education is especially important among Chicanos as it ensures that their youth are equipped academically to meet future challenges. Over the past few years, education attainment among Chicano has progressed significantly thus narrowing the education gap between the Chicano and other ethnic groups’, especially postsecondary education. However, they have not attained an education status like other ethnic groups. There has been an increase in college enrollment and therefore an increase in the number of Chicanos with a college degree. This has an impact in the sense that they can compete for job positions with the whites.

The demographic trends have played a vital role in advancing educational attainment among the young Chicanos. Increasing levels of education attainment, birthrates, and population growth have made Chicanos one of the fastest-growing groups in U.S.

References

1. Navarro, José. "In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement. Randy J. Ontiveros." MELUS: Multi-Ethnic Literature of the United States 41.1 (2016): 225-227.
2. Ontiveros, Randy J. In the Spirit of a New People: The Cultural Politics of the Chicano Movement. NYU Press, 2013.
3. Passel, Jeffrey S., D. V. Cohn, and Mark Hugo Lopez. "Hispanics account for more than half of nation’s growth in past decade." Washington, DC: Pew Hispanic Center (2011).