Since 2013, the investigators and collaborators of the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families (the Center) have produced research that describes the demographic characteristics of Latino families in households with low incomes, along with their strengths, their economic well-being, and their access to government program benefits that can support them.
The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which funds the Center, is charged with promoting the economic and social well-being of children and families. In fiscal year 2024, nearly one quarter of ACF’s $70 billion budget was allocated to the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program, representing the largest allocation of fiscal dollars among ACF programs. The remaining three quarters of ACF’s budget was allocated toward dozens of complementary programs that support the economic and social well-being of children, families, and communities. Because many beneficiaries of ACF’s (and other federal agencies’) programs are Latino families and children, the Center’s priority has been to identify the ways in which policy, particularly ACF programs, may best support Latino families’ economic self-sufficiency and mobility and family well-being.
1. Understanding Latino demographic and geographic growth is a critical factor for supporting the economic well-being and security of Latino families and their children, as well as our nation’s future economic well-being.
The size and varied characteristics of the U.S. Latino child population
- Latino children and youth currently represent one quarter of the U.S. population under age 18 and are projected to be the fastest-growing population of young people in the United States through 2060. These population shifts indicate that the impacts of social policies and programs will be increasingly significant for Latino young people’s economic well-being. And, further, it will be difficult to meet policy goals such as reducing child poverty or improving 21st-century workplace readiness without accounting for Latino children and families.
- More than 9 out of 10 Latino children are U.S.-born and the majority of Latino children reside with two-parents and many live in multi-generational households. One quarter of Latino children have a parent or reside with an adult who is an unauthorized immigrant.b These demographic facts present both opportunities and challenges for Latino families with children. On the one hand, support and resources available in two-parent and multi-generational households may benefit Latino children, particularly when parents are juggling work and parenting. On the other hand, because eligibility criteria for public assistance programs vary based on who resides in households, relationships between household members and the child, and household members’ citizenship status, Latino families may also face different challenges than their peers when it comes to understanding what programs they are eligible for and the level of program benefits that they can receive, if any.
- Latino parents’ literacy (whether in English and/or Spanish), general English proficiency, and educational attainment can impact their employment options, ease of understanding and accessing government benefit programs, and the value of English as a Second Language programs as a component of employment-related training.
- Over half of Latino children are bi- or multi-lingual with proficiency in Spanish and English, a literacy and linguistic strength shown to positively influence future economic security.