Analysis: US Poverty Higher in Latino Populated Cities
Latinos now make up 19.5% of the US population.
Counties in California, Florida, and Texas are home to some of the largest Latino communities in the nation.
However, a recent Axios analysis found that poverty rates are also higher within many of these areas.
US Census Bureau 2022 5-year estimates show that 10 of the largest Latino communities have a poverty rate that’s 50% higher than the national average (12.5%).
Let’s break down the numbers and how they relate to the health equity of Latinos.
Analysis Findings on Poverty
Axios conducted an analysis of 10 census-designated places that had at least 100,000 residents with a high percentage of Latinos.
Based on the collective data, the outlet determined that the average rate of poverty for Latinos in these densely populated areas was 18.7%.
In Texas, they analyzed these Latino-centric cities: Laredo (95.5%), Brownsville (94.6%), McAllen (87%), Edinburg (86.9%), and El Paso (81.6%).
Brownsville had the highest rate of poverty out of any of the other cities, including those in other states, at 26.1% followed by Edinburg at 25.7%, Laredo and McAllen at 21%, and El Paso at 18.9%.
In California, East Los Angeles (95.5%), Salinas (80.2%), Santa Maria (77.8%), and Santa Ana (77%) had large Latino populations.
Poverty rates were significantly higher in cities with higher Latino populations like East Los Angeles (17.2%) and Salinas (14.2%).
Santa Maria had a poverty rate of 13.5% and Santa Ana had a rate of 11.5%.
Hialeah was the only city in Florida examined in the analysis. With a 95.4% Latino population, Hialeah has a 17.8% poverty rate.
Latino Poverty
As the number of Latinos in the US continues to grow, poverty remains a critical struggle for many Latinos.
In the 1970s, 22% of Latinos lived in poverty, according to the analysis.
Flash forward to the 1980s, the growth of the Latino population led to 7% increase in Latino poverty.
Latino poverty spiked in 1994 with 30.7% of the Latino population living in poverty.
As of 2022, about 16.8% of the US Latino population lives in poverty, according to the US Census Bureau.
While it remains lower than in previous decades, the percentage remains disproportionately higher than other races/ethnicities, such as whites (8.6%).
Poverty’s Role on Health Equity
The vicious cycle of poverty that disproportionately affects many racial/ethnic minority groups, such as Latinos, is rooted in years of systemic racism, including policies, discrimination, and socioeconomic inequities.
Many of these poverty-stricken areas are plagued by the high cost of living, lack of access to health care, and limited resources to provide a way out, according to the Axios news report.
Poverty can have a direct impact on opportunities for higher education, access to quality housing, and food insecurity — all of which can lead to worse health outcomes.
Children who grow up in poverty are exposed to a lower quality of life in several areas, including environmental regarding pollution, educational in the form of underfunded schools, and a subjection to higher rates of violence and crime, according to an All for Kids blog post on child poverty.
Those who are impoverished also experience higher rates of stress in relation to their socioeconomic status, which can cause impacts on both physical and mental health and stunt physical and mental development.
Children living in poverty are at higher risk for adverse health effects as adults such as heart disease, hypertension, stroke, obesity, and cancer.
Poverty can be a never-ending cycle, affecting generations of families.
Even if a family climbs out of poverty, the lack of resources and financial sustainability could land a family back into poverty.
Of those who manage to escape, 36% end up returning to poverty within four years, according to a report from the Center of Poverty Research.
The chances of a family coming out of poverty are greatly diminished the longer they are there.
After one year, there’s a 56% chance of getting out of poverty and following 7 or more years there is a 13% chance of getting out, according to the report.
How Do We Address Poverty?
Ending the cycle of poverty is going to require action and intervention from community leaders, who can make policies that provide financial literacy in aid to those in need.
“Without access or that path to economic mobility, (we’re) just going to perpetuate that cycle,” Diana Caba, vice president for community and economic development for the Hispanic Federation, told Axios.
Federal nutrition assistance programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the National School Lunch Program help low-income households with food affordability.
While these nutrition assistance programs have come a long way, there is still more to be done when it comes to the food packages offered, which have been linked to early childhood obesity and fatty liver disease.
Low-income families can also benefit from medical insurance through Medicaid.
However, some states have strict requirements, including but not limited to income, can deny families in desperate need of assistance.
Expanding programs like Medicaid can increase access to healthcare for those living in poverty.
To address housing equity, many municipalities have financial assistance programs for low-income housing or helping families looking to afford a house.
Those programs can also be sparse, hard to come by, or require a lengthy time spent on a waiting list.
These programs serve to give low-income families a chance to thrive, but they don’t eliminate the structural and social inequities that contributed to the problems many Latinos living in poverty face.
Solicit Community Leaders for Change
Poverty is one of the biggest barriers to healthcare in most communities and can often influence other disparities.
One way to make a difference is understanding and identifying the inequities plaguing your community by downloading a free Salud America! Health Equity Report Card.
The Health Equity Report Card gives you a personalized breakdown of where your county stands on important issues such as poverty, housing, education, access to healthcare, and more.
Information contained in the Health Equity Report Card is broken down into sections and uses easy-to-read maps, charts, and graphs to visualize the needs of residents where you live.
Not only does the data give you a look into your community, but it can also be compared to your state or the rest of the country.
The Health Equity Report Card gives you the tools to solicit change from local leaders in hopes that we can begin leveling the playing field and put an end to the inequities brought on by the cycle of poverty.
GET YOUR HEALTH EQUITY REPORT CARD!
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