For many Latinos, the dream of going to and attending college is a lifelong dream. More and more are enrolling in two- and four-year colleges and universities. While the numbers don’t quite match other racial and ethnic minorities, more Latinos are earning secondary degrees. However, for many, the college experience quickly turns from dream to nightmarish. Because of the expenses associated with education, many students suffer from food insecurity and are homeless. “‘Homeless college student’ seems like a contradiction in terms,” said Paul Toro, a psychology professor at Wayne State University who studies poverty and homelessness in an interview with The New York Times. “If you’re someone who has the wherewithal to get yourself into college, well, of course you ...
It has long been known that where you live greatly impacts a person’s overall life and their potential future success. Environment affects health, income, education, and access to opportunities. Many Latinos are often forced to live in low-income, high-poverty, and high-crime areas through a variety of obstacles and barriers put into their paths. A report from the Metropolitan Planning Council and Urban Institute attempted to determine the real cost of racial segregation in housing. According to the report, this situation is costing the country as a whole billions of dollars each year. “Our study documents the relationships between segregation and the incomes, educations and safety of a metropolitan region’s residents,” said Greg Acs, the director of the Income and Benefits ...
The San Antonio Mayor’s Fitness Council (MFC) Student Ambassador Program is looking for the next group of kids to make their school or community healthier. Not only does San Antonio face high rates of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, but residents face disparities in chronic disease by income, education, and racial and ethnic groups. For example 15% of Latino have diabetes compared to 12% of Non-Latino whites, and 24% of people with an annual income below $25,000 have diabetes compared to 8% of those with an annual income greater than $50,000. It is critical for projects, programs, and policies in San Antonio to address structural and systemic inequity that leads to these disparities. "Now in its fifth year, the Mayor’s Fitness Council trains student ambassadors to ...
It is a known fact that one of the most important social determinants of health is where you live. More and more local and state governments are realizing how important environment is to overall health and well-being. For Latinos, where they live is often leads to unavoidable health disparities due to lack of access to healthcare, healthy food choices, and educational opportunities. Recently U.S. News & World Report outlined the best and worst states to live in based on a host of categories that residents value the most. These categories include health care, education, infrastructure, crime rates, and economic opportunities. According to the new report, Massachusetts (10.56% Latino population) was rated number one overall. Not surprisingly, as Massachusetts is home to Harvard ...
Latinos suffer fast differences in health and social conditions compared to other racial and ethnic groups, particularly whites. These differences, called health disparities, are rooted in social disadvantage and are often unavoidable. The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) in Boston, Mass. (18.81% Latino population), has released a new report discussing the growing health and income disparities in the area. Some of the report’s findings include new stats about the rapidly rising rates of youth asthma hospitalizations in Greater Boston. According to the findings, the rate has increased by 22 hospitalizations per 100,000 from 2003-2007 to 2008-2012. One of the chief causes has been the growing number of Latino youth asthma cases. “In the asthma arena what [the findings] ...
In the 1990s, the citizens of Mancelona, Mich. (1.16% Latino population), had limited access to healthcare, social services, and higher education. Employment opportunities were few and far between. The area had the lowest per capita income in the state, most families lived below the poverty line, and were underinsured or uninsured. The effects hit the area’s young the hardest and the rampant health risks affected academic performance. In the 1994-1995 school year, 39% of all Mancelona high school students dropped out and just 64% of high school seniors graduated. Something had to be done at a fundamental level to affect real change. Like all great changes, what happened in Mancelona started at a grass roots level. In order to reduce health disparities, it is critical to ...
Financial stress, especially the cost that comes from struggling to afford housing payments, is one of the most toxic people can experience. While the financial crisis of 2008 is over and the economy as a whole has by and large rebounded, Latinos are still reeling from its lingering effects. More and more Latinos and Latino families are choosing to rent than buy a home. According to research by The Hill, Latino homeownership rates that declined due to the financial crisis are still on the decline. In 2007, nearly 50% of all Latino households owned their own homes. In 2017, that rate is now 47% and sinking. Research also found that the number of Latino families submitting mortgage applications have plummeted 74% from their peak numbers in 2007. The much stricter financial ...
Any parent can tell you that raising a child requires a lot of time, patience, love, and understanding. In a more practical sense, it also requires an investment of the monetary kind. Raising a child is an expensive undertaking and, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), it has become more expensive than ever. A new report entitled “The Cost of Raising a Child” estimates that, for a child born in 2015, a “middle-income” married-couple family will need to spend anywhere between $12,350 and $13,900 annually until the child turns 17. When it is all added up, families are expected to spend an average of $233,610 on child-rearing expenses. Lower income families are expected to spend $174,690; for higher income families, the cost is anticipated to be ...
Recent national numbers regarding unemployment and poverty have been promising. For the first time since the Great Recession, Americans across the country have looked to be “better off” financially and economically. However, in one area of Southern California, those numbers have proven to not ring entirely true. In San Diego County (33% Latino population), the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the unemployment rate fell from 8.8% in 2014 to 4.3% in 2016. Despite these circumstances, the Census Bureau released data showing that despite there being more jobs, more people are falling into poverty. Analyzing the numbers between 2006-2010 and 2011-2015, the countywide poverty rate grew from 12.3% to 14.5%. “The thing that people really don’t realize regarding poverty and ...
