Latino(a)s

Latinos are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups in the United States. The Hispanic population in the United States increased by more than 50 percent between 1990 and 2000 to 32.8 million, representing 12.0 percent of the total population. Youthfulness, birthrate, and levels of immigration have contributed to the growth of the Latino population. In 2000, 39.1 percent of the Hispanic population was foreign-born. Hispanic immigration to the United States has reached unprecedented levels and has dispersed across the nation, including states, regions, cities, and towns that previously had virtually no Latino residents. In addition, the diversity of national origin groups among the Hispanic population in the United States has increased. Latinos can be of any race and of more than twenty national origins. Emerging communities of Dominicans, Colombians, El Salvadorans, Nicaraguans, and Peruvians, for example, have added to the larger and more established communities of Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans.

Hispanics are one of the poorest ethnic groups in the United States. Hispanics have high rates of poverty among full-time workers and working husbands in intact families with children. Latinos may suffer from the effects of economic downturns more than non-Latinos and benefit less from periods of economic growth. Low levels of educational attainment compound Hispanic socioeconomic vulnerability.

However, compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Latinos present a profile that sometimes appears counterintuitive and is not sufficiently explained by existing wisdom or scholarship. One of the most striking examples is in the area of health. This “epidemiological paradox” is a dominant theme in Hispanic health research. In the aggregate, compared to other racial and ethnic groups, Latinos have lower age-adjusted death rates in the face of higher risk factors for most causes of death, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pneumonia and influenza, and suicide. In the case of birth outcomes, for example,

[Page 330]When applied to Latino populations, established theoretical models that explain patterns and variations of illness and disease yield “results that are confusing, seemingly paradoxical, and of little use in creating policies and programs aimed at the Latino population” (Hayes-Bautista 2002, 216).

The growing need for Latino-based metrics and models is also evident in the study of homelessness. Hispanics and African-Americans have similar socioeconomic profiles, with, most important, high poverty rates. Yet studies have found that African Americans are overrepresented and Latinos underrepresented among the homeless population. Researching Latino homelessness can contribute to the increased well-being of the Hispanic population, and the knowledge gained may also benefit the well-being of non-Latinos.

Understanding homelessness among Hispanics requires an especially nuanced conceptual and methodological framework that appropriately models a number of dimensions that determine within and between-group variation. Latinos differ from each other in terms of national origin, citizenship status, race, and English-language proficiency. These factors may affect the dynamic of homelessness among His panics. This entry discusses and analyzes Latino homelessness. It presents an overview of homelessness among Hispanics, a discussion of the pan-Hispanic rubric, and an analysis of how social, cultural, and economic factors affect Latino homelessness.

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