The Social Factors That Affect The Experiences Of Children

When it comes to identifying the Latino’s population by a type of skin color most would consider themselves as Caucasian while a few identify themselves as Black. Many others associate themselves with indigenous race while others are increasingly identifying themselves as “other”. Their origins range from Mexico, Puerto Rico, Cuba and Guatemala. Notable differences among the Latino groups center on the aspects of language refinement, educational status, cultural values and attitudes toward mental health treatment (Brice, 2001).

“Hispanics in general have a strong work ethic and are willing to work hard and long to provide for their families” (Allison & Bencomo, 2015. p.58). Therefore, encouraging traditional morals and teaching children about the history of the culture is of great importance in Hispanic families (Allison & Bencomo, 2015. p.59). “Spanish is the primary language spoken in Hispanic immigrant families” (Allison & Bencomo, 2015. p. 59); however, English speaking family members will help with translation and communication when

Although marriage is a societal value, there has been a sharp increase in the instances of alternative family relationships, a phenomenon the law has been relatively quick to respond to. BOCSAR figures show that from 1987 to 2007, the number of married couples developed from 63% to 62%, which in the same period the number of de facto relationships (both heterosexual and homosexual) grew from 6% to 9%. As such, a new movement sources desire for

Currently within the United States one of the fastest growing minority population (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) is the Latinos. In 2010 Census Bureau Brief ( Ennis, Rois-Vargas, & Albert, 2011) it stated how an estimated 15 million Latino individuals were living within the United States, which is approximately about 16% of the entire U.S. population. There is one big problem with addressing the Latino population, and that is the family patterns are either misrepresented or not properly understood, due to the label of Hispanic and Latinos being placed together. These two groups may share the same spoken language of Spanish and have similar cultural ancestry but the diversity among Hispanic and Latinos (Schwartz & Scott, 2012) make generalizations about their lifestyles difficult. The term Hispanic came to be used in the 1970’s by government officials (cdc.gov, 2011) in trying to provide a diverse label on this population that had connections to speaking Spanish and the Spanish culture. Latino became more of a termed to be used when distinguishing between Mexican (Hispanics) and Latinos who descendants from Latin America such as Cuba and Puerto Rico.

Latinos have had a big impact in population numbers in the United States. Constant immigration from Latinos and Hispanics from all over the world have resulted in a large population of them living in America. As of July 1, 2015, there were a total of 56.6 million Hispanics in the U.S., which makes it the largest racial minority in the country (Bureau, 2016). Having a large population of Hispanics, impacts a lot of aspects in the daily lives and influences communities around

A diverse minority group of Latino and Spanish-speaking peoples has played an important part of what it means to be American and what it means to be a citizen in the United States today. Moving into the future, in order to analyze the trajectory that this group is in, we must first understand the group’s history in the United States and in territories that would become the United States. In addition, we must look at the origins of the most recent wave of Latino immigration in order to understand their current effect on American society and the intersection between both minority and majority groups. Finally, we get to the apex of this investigation: what lies in the future for Latino Americans in the United States? Although Latino

According to the U.S. Census, the Latino population in the United States has increased by 592% since the 1970s. Currently, Latinos make up 16% of the population in the United States and it is expected to increase to 31% by 2060 (Census, 2012). As the demographic landscape of the country changes, the economic prosperity of the nation relies on the education of a more diverse population. To remain competitive on a global scale, the U.S. must pay special attention to the education of the largest growing group of the population: Latinos.

Past research has focused on parenting and child development in minority and immigrant families as culturally deficient, however Perreria et al. (2006) study shows that among Latino immigrants, the broader context of reception into their new communities shapes the societal factors that influence their adaptation and parenting. Driscoll, Russell, and Crockett (2008) study focuses on the four different types of parenting styles practiced by immigrant parents and their effects on the children.

Many of these Latinos have dropped out of high school, if not, never attended college. Therefore, many are currently working minimal paying jobs with long work shifts. This type of lifestyle keep Latinos excluded from Latino youth, who are being molded to have such a negative mindset by society and the absence of parental models. Latino parents are not given the chance to vote and express their voice to show and teach the importance of voting to their children.

The Latino crisis of education has been a very concerning subject for many discerning about the future the economy of America. With Latino children making up a large percentage of the American school system, the continuous dropout rates of Latino children have started to worry many Americans. Even with the children who come from different ethnicities having an increase in amount of children who go to college, there have not been any improvements in the numbers of Latinos making it to college. The crisis in Latino education has occurred due to many different factors with the prime reason being the lack of support from parents, and it can be improved and slowly solved by educating the Latino parents.

Due to the focus on children, babies of Mexican decent are born healthier than other races because of the extra emphasis on nutrition that pregnant Mexican mothers set for themselves. Hispanic parents put their children first over their own well-being which clashes with the individualism found in American culture. The Hispanic community has worked to improve their performance in every field of life as “they are building solid lower-middle- and middle-class lives… their education level has been steadily rising, their earnings no longer reflect wide disparities with those of non-Hispanics…” (Chavez, Pg.

The ethnic terms Latino or Hispanics refer to a diverse population of Latin American descent that includes many nationalities and races. Latino refers to a person of Cuban, Mexican, Puerto Rican, South or Central American, or other Spanish culture or origin, regardless of race. Latinos comprised nearly 16 percent of the US population in 2009, making them the largest minority group. By 2050, it is projected that they will comprise up to 30 percent of the US. The three largest subgroups include Mexican Americans, (about 65 percent), mostly settled in the Southwest, Puerto Rican, (9.1 percent) in the urban Northeast, and Cuban Americans (3.5 percent) in Florida. About 23 percent of Latinos in the US live in poverty.

Latinos represent the largest and fastest growing minority group in the United States (Ceballos & Bratton, 2010). According to the U.S. Census (2000) immigrant children under the age of 18 years old make up about 23% of the U.S. population of children. The U.S Census (2000) also reports that immigrant families typically settle in urban areas like New York, New Jersey, Florida, Texas, California and Illinois. One national survey found that Latino youth were more likely to report feeling sad or hopeless, to consider suicide, and/or to attempt suicide than white and African American youth (Potochnick & Perreira, 2011). Hovey and King (1996) examined rates of acculturative stress,

Looking into social forces such as U.S. history, education, and racism will help find out why such inequality among Latino families exists and how they persevere and thrive in America.

First and foremost it should be stated that in today’s society the Latino/a culture is both highly esteemed yet also suppressed. In a contradictory state it is hard to acknowledge that many fail to realize what is brought upon an individual with the sole fact of being a Latino/a in Anglo America. The definition of what is a Latino/a can very on a personal level; however it can be established that to be a Latino/a is typically to be a native or inhabitant of Latin America, or a person of Latin American origin living amongst us in the United States.