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The purpose of this essay is to explore the current and future potential for engaging Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) in the labor movement by 2040. Because of the limitations of the data and the scope of the projections, we initially analyze Asian American participation in the labor market, so we can later discuss our vision and trajectory for engaging AAPI workers in the labor movement by 2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines economic inequality and poverty among Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and their participation in safety-net programs. Income and wealth disparities have increased dramatically over the last few decades, reaching levels not seen since the 1920s. One of the consequences has been an inability to ameliorate poverty, particularly among children. While Asian Americans have been depicted as outperforming all other racial groups, they have not surpassed non-Hispanic whites after accounting for regional differences in the cost of living. Moreover, a relatively large proportion of AAPIs is at the bottom end of the economic ladder. Many impoverished AAPIs rely on antipoverty programs to survive, but most still struggle because of a frayed safety net. Many experts believe that inequality will persist or worsen; consequently, it is likely that the absolute number of poor AAPIs will grow over the next quarter century. Addressing the problems of societal inequality and AAPI poverty will require political action to rectify underlying structural and institutional flaws, and a renewed commitment to ensuring all have a decent standard of living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This resource paper analyzes the growth of the Asian American (AA) population over the next quarter century based on projections from the U.S. Census Bureau and supplementary estimates by the authors. The number of Asian Americans will increase from 20.5 million in 2015 to 35.7 million in 2040, making them the fastest-growing racial population in the nation. Like the nation as a whole, the AA population will age over the next quarter century, with youth declining from a quarter to a little more than a fifth of the AA population and the elderly increasing from a tenth to about a sixth. Immigrants will continue to be a majority of Asian Americans, but their share will decline from two-thirds to one half. After 2040, U.S.-born AAs (those who are Asian alone and from mixedrace backgrounds) will comprise a majority of the population. Another significant change will be the growth of multiracial Asian Americans, increasing from a tenth of the population 1990 to a sixth in 2040. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This resource paper analyzes the growth of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander (NHOPI) population over the next quarter century based on projections from the U.S. Census Bureau and supplementary estimates by the authors. Overall, this population will increase from about 1.5 million in 2015 to nearly 2.3 million in 2040, about three times greater than the increase for the total U.S. population. Most NHOPIs are indigenous, but immigrants comprise about a fifth of the population. This group is relatively young, but median age will increase over time. Youth comprised about a third of the population in 2015 and over a quarter in 2014. The elderly share will nearly double to about one in eight by 2040. NHOPIs are more likely to be multiracial than any other racial group, and NHOPIs of mixed-race will comprise over half the population a quarter century from now. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While much research exists on African Americans and Latinos after the housing crisis in 2007, much less is known about the Asian American experience particularly as it relates to foreclosure and housing burden. This study takes a quantitative case study approach examining Asian Americans in one region of Los Angeles County. Utilizing data from the Census, Home Mortgage Foreclosure Data, and Data- Quick, we provide a more comprehensive picture of the Asian American housing experience before, during and after the housing boom in 2005. Findings show that Asian Americans' decline in homeownership could not be explained by foreclosure. In fact, Asian Americans may have avoided foreclosure in this region using higher down payments, avoiding subprime loans, and loans with variable interest. A potential cost of these actions is higher housing burden, which is closely related to default and foreclosure. Thus, policymakers and community leaders should continue to monitor Asian American homeownership as the impact of the housing collapse may be delayed for Asian Americans compared to other racial groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses data from the American Housing Survey to examine Asian American wealth through home equity, which is the most important asset held by many households. We also analyze ethnic variations in housing assets and the impact of the Great Recession on subgroups. Our analysis finds that non-Hispanic whites had greater equity than Asian Americans after adjusting for geographic differences; Chinese-born Asians have the highest and Philippine-bom and Southeast Asians have the lowest home equity within ethnic variations; and the recession impacted all Asian subgroups, but affected Philippine-bom Asians the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scrimping + Saving documents the complexity of financial health within the diverse and growing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, detailing the influence of factors such as generational status, ethnicity, age, and technological familiarity. The findings and recommendations from this research are critical to asset-building practitioners serving AAPI communities, as well as to financial institutions and policy makers. In particular, the findings serve a critical role in articulating the need for further investment in culturally competent education and services, and capitalizing on models that enhance social networks as a vehicle for building individual and community financial capability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editors discuss various reports within the issue on topics including Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) and Native Hawaiians, wealth, and financial security.

Asian Americans are increasingly recognized as an important constituency in electoral politics and yet there is a glaring gap in information about ethnic differences in public opinion. Using a unique survey of Asian American voters conducted by the California League of Conservation Voters, we add to the nascent literature on environmental attitudes and public opinion among Asian Americans. We find systematic ethnic differences in the distribution of responses related to self-reported "environmentalist" identity, support for environmental policies, and environmental concerns such as climate change. Asian Americans are strongly proenvironment overall; nevertheless, the findings suggest that any mobilization related to environmental politics should be sensitive to ethnic differences, as well as commonalities that transcend subgroups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction to the journal is presented which discusses various papers published within the issue, including "Ethnic Variation in Environmental Attitudes and Opinion Among Asian American Voters," "Engaging Vietnamese American Communities in California in Environmental Health and Awareness," and "Building a Twenty-First-Century Environmental Movement That Wins: Twenty Years of Environmental Justice Organizing by the Asian Pacific Environmental Network."

The authors reflect on the ten-year journey of "AAPI Nexus," a journal started by the Asian American Studies Center. Particular focus is given to the mission of the journal, as well as the core principles guiding its operations. According to the authors, the journal plays an important role in addressing topics relevant to Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. The struggles and challenges faced by the journal in implementing its vision are also mentioned.

An introduction to this special issue of "AAPI Nexus," focusing on Asian American experiecnes in global cities, is presented.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one on the employment issues faced by Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders by Marlene Kim, one on the state of Asian American Businesses by Diem Linda Tran and OiYan A. Poon on, and another on ethnic-owned banks by Tarry Hum.

This article examines the background, history, and outcomes of Asian American engagement in political redistricting. It provides a historical context through an overview of the efforts by African Americans and Latinos, which established a foundation for Asian Americans. Through an analysis of demographic and spatial patterns, the paper argues that Asian Americans face a unique challenge and consequently have had to rely on utilizing a strategy based on the concept of "Community of Common Interest" to defend the integrity of Asian American neighborhoods from being fragmented by redistricting. Although it is difficult to construct Asian-majority districts, the creation of Asian-influence districts has contributed to an increase in the numbers of elected Asian American officials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2008 election was a milestone in the emergence of Asian Americans as a factor in American politics, with national television news networks openly discussing and analyzing California's Asian American voters. Most mainstream analysis, however, had very little in-depth understanding of this population. This essay provides some insights into the absolute and relative size of the Asian American population, along with key demographic characteristics, their participation in electoral politics, some of the barriers they encounter, and future prospects. The brief is based on analyzing the most recently available data, the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) and the 2006 November Current Population Survey (CPS). This analysis builds on a previous analytical brief which examined the emergence of Asian Americans as California politics' new "sleeping giant," a term that was applied to Hispanics in the 1980s and 1990s because of their rapid growing numbers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous studies have examined the effects of welfare re- form on the employment and caseload dynamics of welfare recipients in California. Yet, despite their overrepresentation among welfare recipients, Southeast Asians have received relatively little scholarly attention. This study explores one explanation for this finding—the challenges of collecting data on Southeast Asian welfare recipients and, in particular, the difficulties associated with surveying this population group. These difficulties include attracting adequate funding to recruit sizeable Southeast Asian samples, translating survey materials into Southeast Asian languages, and effectively administering surveys among a highly mobile population group with low English language proficiency. To strengthen research on this important but understudied population group, researchers must build political and financial support for such research, develop appropriate research designs, informed by an understanding of the characteristics of Southeast Asian families, communities, and welfare recipients; rely on refugee support organizations to help overcome resistance to participating in survey research; and make the data available to interested scholars to maximize the impact of these data collection efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an overview of research papers that were published within the issue. The efforts made by Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in ensuring that their people, histories and cultures are accurately represented are described. Important insights on how mainstream cultural institutions have changed is provided. The highly charged politics that are often intrinsic to the process of change is illustrated. Two articles focus on professional practices. The historical and contemporary obstacles and reasons behind the lack of exhibitions of Asian American works in the U.S. is examined.

The article discusses various reports published within the issue, including one by Julian ChunChung Chow on the welfare reform in California, and another by Chong-suk Han and Edward Echtle on the importance of museums in promoting social ties and interactions among Asian American and Pacific Islander populations.

The article acknowledges the contributions of Doctor Marjorie Kagawa-Singer, an advocate for communities of color, particularly underserved Asian American, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, who also served as senior editor of the "AAPI Nexus Journal."