Census Says Hispanics Made Economic Gains;Per Capita Income Trails Blacks' and Whites'
America's burgeoning Hispanic community is a population both at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and one experiencing a measure of rapid economic upward mobility, the Census Bureau reported yesterday.</br></br>On the one hand, the combined income of Hispanic households increased nearly 70 percent, largely as a result of rapid population growth since the early 1980s. The figures underscore the greatly heightened purchasing power and presence of the Hispanic population in this country. The median income of Hispanic households grew by 9 percent since 1983.</br></br>At the same time, Hispanics continue to suffer disproportionately from poverty and low educational attainment, according to the report. Hispanic per capita income continues to be below that of both blacks and whites.</br></br>Taken together, the figures point to a diverse population, both economically and socially, with Puerto Ricans much more likely to be poor and live in households headed by females, and Cubans more likely than other Hispanic populations to earn more than $50,000 a year.</br></br>"The Hispanic population is now a very large, significant presence, particularly in certain areas of the country," said Jeffrey Passel, a demographer at the Urban Institute. "There are roughly as many Hispanics in the country today as there were blacks in 1970. So we're talking about a sizable presence."