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Children of Immigrants in the American Community Survey
Mark MatherPopulation Reference Bureau
Presentation at Migration Policy InstituteOctober 16, 2008
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Why Focus on the Children of Immigrants?
Mostly ignored in immigration debate
Fast-growing, leading a race/ethnic shift in U.S. population
Unique policy needs
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Using the ACS to Look at Trends for Children in Immigrant Families
Sources of data on children in immigrant families Current Population Survey (http://www.census.gov/cps/) Decennial Census (http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html) ACS (http://www.census.gov/acs)
ACS advantages More accurate than CPS More timely than decennial census Provides the annual data needed to track fast-changing populations
ACS immigration data can be compared to decennial census data Exception: Residence one year ago See www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/compACS.htm
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Defining Children in Immigrant Families
Children under age 18 who are foreign-born or who reside with at least one foreign-born parent.
The foreign-born status of children not living with either parent is based on the status of the child
Children living in subfamilies are linked to their co-resident parent(s) and not the householder
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Children in Immigrant Families, 1990-2006
Number (000s) Percent1990 8,331 132000 13,538 192006 16,157 22Source: PRB analysis of decennial census and ACS data.
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Using the ACS to Look at Social/Economic Characteristics of Children in Immigrant Families
ACS designed to measure socioeconomic trends in small geographic areas.
But also useful for looking at small and scattered populations
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English Ability Among Children and their Foreign-Born Parents, 2006
46
35
16
3
05
101520253035404550
Child speaksEnglish very well,
but parent(s)have difficulty
Child andparent(s) speakEnglish very well
Child andparent(s) have
difficultyspeaking English
Parent(s) speakEnglish very well,
child hasdifficulty
Percent
Source: PRB analysis of the 2006 ACS PUMS.
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Children in Poor and Low-Income Families, 2006
22
50
17
37
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
In poverty Low-income
Children in immigrant families Children in U.S.-born families
Source: PRB analysis of the 2006 ACS PUMS.
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Child Poverty by Race/Ethnicity, 2006
22
10
22
12
29
17
11
37
14
26
0.05.0
10.015.0
20.025.0
30.035.0
40.0
Total White* Black* Asian* Hispanic
Children in immigrant families Children in U.S.-born families
*Non-HispanicSource: PRB analysis of the 2006 ACS PUMS.
Percent
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Accessing ACS Data on Children of Immigrants: Published Tables
KIDS COUNT / PRB (www.kidscount.org)
Migration Policy Institute (www.migrationpolicy.org)
National Center for Children in Poverty ( www.nccp.org)
Urban Institute (www.urban.org)
Don Hernandez (University at Albany)
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Accessing ACS Data on Children of Immigrants: Custom Tables
Data Ferrett (http://dataferrett.census.gov/)
IPUMS (http://usa.ipums.org/usa/)
Download census public use files (http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/acs_pums_2007_1yr.html)Need SAS, SPSS, or other statistical software
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KIDS COUNT Data Center
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KIDS COUNT Data Center: Children in Immigrant Families
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KIDS COUNT Data Center: Children in Immigrant Families
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Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors,* 2006
*Neither parent is proficient in English; Neither parent is a U.S. citizen; Neither parent has more than a 9th grade education; Neither parent has been in the country more than 10 years.
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Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors in DC-MD-VA, 2006
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Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors in Washington DC and Surrounding Area, 2006
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For More Information U.S. Census Bureau website (www.census.gov/acs)
ACS Compass Products (forthcoming from Census Bureau)
Annie E. Casey Foundation’s KIDS COUNT website (www.kidscount.org)
PRB (www.prb.org)
Mark [email protected]; 202-939-5433