There are signs of overall economic improvement among the 563,500 Mexican immigrants and 504,000 U.S.-born Mexican-Americans who live in metropolitanChicago, according to a new research report from the Institute for Latino Studies (ILS) at the University of Notre Dame.
TitledThe Economic Progress of U.S.- and Foreign-Born Mexicans in Metro Chicago: Indications from the United States Census,the report finds encouraging signs of overall improvement in income and other indicators for both groups throughout the 1990s.One of its more significant findings is that Mexican immigrants who, for the most part, have little formal education, have substantially improved their economic status during the past decade.
Equally significant, however, is the sharp deterioration in living standards for Mexican-Americans without high school diplomas. The average income of this group has dropped, as has the probability of home ownership.
For both groups, income and home ownership rates generally rise with more education.Fluency in English also is associated with higher income and home ownership rates, especially for Mexican immigrants.This demonstrates the importance of educational programs for both the Mexican immigrant and Mexican-American populations in Chicago, according to the reports authors, Timothy Ready, director of research at the ILS, and Rob Paral, research fellow of the American Immigration Law Foundation in Washington, D.C.
The Institute for Latino Studies conducts academic research and public information programs on the Latino * community nationally, Latino spirituality and culture, Latino religion, and border and inter-American affairs. *
Through its Metropolitan Chicago Initiative, the institute conducts data analysis, surveys and other research activities in partnership with local institutions to paint a portrait of the Chicago-area Latino community and identify its most critical needs.
The research report is available in its entirety at http://www.nd.edu/~latino/research/publications.htm#rreports .Additional information on Chicago-area Latinos is available at http://www.nd.edu/~latino/units/mci.htm .
* Contact: * _Sylvia Puente, MetropolitanChicagoInitiative , ILS, 708-788-6109, spuente@nd.edu _
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