Reports
LATINAS IN NEW YORK STATE
A briefing on our status in
EDUCATION, HEALTH, and the ECONOMY
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LATINAS IN OFFICE: NEW YORK
SIX total Congresswomen of 29 , ONE is Latina
12 women in the State Senate OF 62, only ONE is Latina.
36 women in the State Assembly out of 150, only ONE is Latina.
Latinas are 8% of the national population, yet they have less than 1% of the seats in Albany .
NO VOTE . NO VOICE . NO REPRESENTATION - INVISIBLE IN POLICY MAKING ARENA
DEMOGRAPHIC OVERVIEW
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|
| County | % LATINAS Total Population |
% LATINAS Total Women |
%LATINAS 18+ Total Women 18+ |
Bronx |
26% |
48% |
45% |
New York |
14% |
27% |
24% |
Queens |
13% |
24% |
23% |
Brooklyn |
10% |
19% |
18% |
Staten Island |
6% |
12% |
10% |
Education
Research has shown that high levels of education positively correlate with increased earnings. The numbers in educational attainment between NYC and NYS do not show a significant difference. Yet, they are consistent in demonstrating that Latinas are at a clear disadvantage both in NYC and NYS -- compared to white women, and the city and state averages for all women.
Latinas are less likely than other woman to have completed high school. In 2000, 28 percent of women 18 years and older in NYC failed to complete high school -- in comparison, the proportion for Latinas increases significantly to 45 percent, and decreases dramatically for white women to 15 percent. In NY State, this figure does not change much, where 21 percent of all women fail to graduate high school, Latinas proportion still increases to 43% and white women decreases once again to 14 percent.
Latinas are less likely to obtain a Bachelor’s degree. In 2000, while 15 percent of NYC women graduated college, only 7 percent of Latinas did, and among white women, 22 percent obtained a Bachelor’s degree.
In pursuing advanced degrees, Latinas also lagged behind the average. Only 4 percent of Latinas in New York City obtained a graduate or professional degree, well below women’s average of 10 percent. On the other hand, 17 percent of white women obtained an advanced degree.
Economic Security
Latinas at 7.9 percent, have an unemployment rate almost double that of the unemployment rate for white women of 4.7 in NYC. When compared to the state of New York’s overall unemployment rate, 7.1 percent, Latinas are disproportionably carrying the burden of the economic crisis. This unemployment crisis facing Latinas, combined with lower relative earnings (after taking into account differences in education and experience), is one of the key factors linked to the Latino economic distress. The effects create a resounding impact on Latino households.
The number of Latinas working as part of two-earner families, as well as the number of women-headed households with no male income earner, continues to increase. Among Latinos in NYC, 36 percent were residing in households where no is husband present. By comparison, only 9.3 percent of white New Yorkers resided in female headed households.
The annual household income of women in New York City paints a rather dim picture for Latinas. The average household income per-capita among Latina-headed households in NY was $11,359 in 2001. Among other households, the per-capita income was $27,295. Similarly, the poverty rate among female-headed households in New York was 34 percent, compared to 13 percent among other households. The white female-headed households had an average annual per-capita income of $19,194, but other households had an income per-capita of $36,113.
Single Latina householders (no husband) constitute 64 percent of Latinos households below the poverty level.
In contrast, white female householders (no husband) make up 43 percent of white households below the poverty level. This high incidence rate of Latinas in single headed households disproportionably affects Latinos by increasing the poverty status of Latino family units.
Health
LATINAS & HIV/AIDS: In 2002, Latinas had an AIDS rate of 919.1 per 100,000 women, compared to 248.4 for white women. According to the NYS Department of Health, the top two means of transmission of the AIDS virus for Latinas in the state are: intravenous drug use (53 percent) & heterosexual contact (39 percent). Puerto Rican women accounted for 20 percent of HIV deaths, other Latinas 7 percent, and white women 11 percent. The extent of the medical & public health challenges posed to meaningful HIV/AIDS prevention & treatment in New York City is a product of the city’s historic demographic pattern of socioeconomic disadvantage. Latina women of childbearing age constitute a major segment of an invisible but continuously growing population of HIV-infected women of color.
LATINAS & DOMESTIC VIOLENCE: A 1998 Survey of Women’s Health reports that nearly one-third of all women in the U.S., regardless of ethnic, racial, religious, or economic background, report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives. In New York City, alone, 28 women were killed by their abusive husbands/partners between January 1, 2002 & mid-August 2002 & an additional 20 individuals took their lives in domestic incidents.
LATINAS, FERTILITY AND BIRTHS: Latinas have the highest fertility rates, 73.8 per 1,000 live births compared to the NYC average of 65.6, and white women 61.9. Latinas also have a high birth rate, 18.7 per 1,000 live births, much higher than the NYC 15.7 and white women, 13.1. Among Latinas, 68 percent have a child while under the age of 30, compared to 21 percent of white women and the NYC average of 44 percent. It is important to note that the infant mortality
rate among Puerto Ricans is 8.4 per 1,000 live births, exceeding the city average of 6.9, other Latinas at 4.9, and whites at 4.5 per 1,000.
LATINAS & TEENAGE PREGNANCY: Where Latina teens have teenage birth rate of 65.9 per 1,000 live births, it is substantially higher than white teens 13.0 per 1,000 live births and the overall NYC rate of 41.5. Furthermore, in NYC, where 44 percent of women had a child out-of-wedlock, among Latinas the rate was higher at 65% and for white women, only 11% had a child out-of-wedlock. A large percentage of Latina teen births are out-of-wedlock, contributing to the
increase in single-parent families & the greater likelihood that these girls & their children will spend some or all of their lives in poverty.
LATINAS AND MORTALITY: The leading cause of death among Latinas is heart disease, at both 33 percent for Puerto Ricans and other Latinas. Other leading causes of death are malignant neoplasms, diabetes, cerebrovascular, influenza and pneumonia, and HIV.
| Census Snapshot: Latinas
2000 Total US population: 2000 Total Latinos/as population: 2000 Total female population: 2000 Total Latina population: 2000 Total NYS population: 2000 Total NYS Latinos/as population: 2000 Total NYS female population: 2000 Total NYS Latina population: 2000 Total NYC Population: 2000 Total NYC Latinos/as population: 2000 Total NYC female population: 2000 Total NYC Latina population: |
281.4 million 35.3 million or 12.5% of the total population 143.4 million 17.1 million or 12% 18.9 million 2.8 million or 15% of the total population 9.8 million 1.5 million or 15% 281.4 million 35.3 million or 12.5% of the total population 4.2 million 1.1 million or 27% |
| AGE 2000 US female median age: 2000 Latina median age: 2000 NYS female median age: 2000 NYS Latina median age: 2000 NYC female median age: 2000 NYC Latina median age: |
36.5 26.3 37.2 29.8 35.6 30.5 |
| MEDIAN EARNINGS 2000 US female median earnings year found, F/T Work: 2000 Latina median earnings year round, F/T Work: 2000 NYS female median earnings year found, F/T Work: 2000 NYS Latina median earnings year round, F/T Work: 2000 NYC female median earnings year found, F/T Work: 2000 NYC Latina median earnings year round, F/T Work: |
27,194 21,634 31,099 25,606 32,949 25,683 |
EDUCATION Percent of college graduate or higher for age 25 years and older Percent of college graduate or higher for age 25 years and older Percent of high school graduate or higher for age 25 years and older Percent of college graduate or higher for age 25 years and older |