Search

Pew Research Center conducted this analysis to understand more about how the educational background of parents is linked to their children's labor market and economic outcomes. Much has been written about the impact parental education has on children's educational attainment, but less is known about the longer-term impact on economic well-being. Two surveys collected by the Federal Reserve are used to illuminate this relationship. The larger and more recent Survey of Household and Economic Decisionmaking (SHED) collects information on the type of college the adult attended and has a battery of questions on educational debt. The analysis examines adults ages 22 to 59, of which there are 7,429 unweighted respondents in the 2019 SHED. The SHED is not designed to precisely measure economic outcomes such as income and wealth. The well-known Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF) is the gold-standard for measurement of household wealth, and the 2019 collection ascertained the respondent's parental levels of education. The SCF also has information on inheritances received and expected. This allows for the exploration of the relationship between the economic outcomes of the head of the household and parental education and some of the ways in which college-educated parents are able to transmit their wealth to their offspring.

The overall number of undergraduates at U.S. colleges and universities has increased dramatically over the past 20 years, with growth fueled almost exclusively by an influx of students from low-income families and students of color. But these changes are not occurring uniformly across the postsecondary landscape. The rise of poor and minority undergraduates has been most pronounced in public two-year colleges and the least selective four-year colleges and universities, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of National Center for Education Statistics data. There has been less change at the nation's more selective four-year colleges and universities, where a majority of "dependent" undergraduates continue to be from middle- and higher-income families. As of the 2015-16 academic year (the most recent data available), about 20 million students were enrolled in undergraduate education, up from 16.7 million in 1995-96.1 Of those enrolled in 2015- 16, 47% were nonwhite and 31% were in poverty, up from 29% and 21%, respectively, 20 years earlier. The rising proportion of undergraduates in poverty does not mirror wider trends in society. The official poverty rate for adults age 18 to 64 (12%) was similar in 1996 and 2016, suggesting that access to college for students from lower-income backgrounds has increased since 1996.

A new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data finds that the "post-Millennial" generation is already the most racially and ethnically diverse generation, as a bare majority of 6- to 21-year-olds (52%) are non-Hispanic whites. And while most are still pursuing their K-12 education, the oldest post-Millennials are enrolling in college at a significantly higher rate than Millennials were at a comparable age. The parents of post-Millennials are more well educated than the parents of Millennials and those of previous generations, and this pattern most likely contributes to the relative affluence of the households in which post-Millennials live. The changing patterns in educational attainment are driven in part by the shifting origins of young Hispanics. Post-Millennial Hispanics are less likely than Millennial Hispanics to be immigrants -- 12% of post-Millennial Hispanics were born outside the U.S., compared with 24% of Millennial Hispanics in 2002. Previous research has shown that second-generation Hispanic youth tend to go further in school than foreign-born Hispanic youth. That is borne out in this analysis, as 61% of second-generation Hispanics ages 18 to 20 who were no longer in high school were enrolled in college in 2017, compared with 40% of their foreign-born counterparts. The oldest post-Millennials are less likely than their predecessors to be in the labor force. Only 58% of today's 18- to 21-year-olds worked in the prior calendar year; this compares with 72% of Millennial 18- to 21-year-olds in 2002. And employment among post-Millennials is less likely to be full-time compared with earlier generations. The living arrangements of post-Millennial children are similar to those of Millennials when they were growing up. About two-thirds (65%) of today's 6- to 17-year-olds live with two married parents, slightly lower than the share (68%) of Millennials in that age range who lived in this type of household in 2002. The median household income of post-Millennials exceeds that of earlier generations when they were young. The typical post-Millennial in 2018 lives in a household with an annual income of roughly $63,700 after adjusting for household size. That is slightly higher than the income for the typical household in which Millennials grew up. The generation labeled "post-Millennials" in this report -- referred to elsewhere as Generation Z, the iGen, or Homelanders -- includes those born after 1996. Pew Research Center uses the label "post-Millennials" as a placeholder until more consensus emerges as to their name. For purposes of this analysis, the post-Millennial generation spans 16 years, the same number of years as the Millennial generation (now ages 22 to 37). This report compares the post-Millennials in 2018 with earlier generations when they were ages 6 to 21, examining their demographic characteristics as well as those of their parents and households.

The number of Hispanic students in the nation's public schools nearly doubled from 1990 to 2006, accounting for 60% of the total growth in public school enrollments over that period. Strong growth in Hispanic enrollment is expected to continue for decades, according to population projection by the U.S. Census Bureau. Using data from the 2006 American Community Survey (ACS), this report presents information on the demographic characteristics of Hispanic students in public schools, comparing Hispanic public school students with their non-Hispanic counterparts. Large sample sizes available in the ACS enable detailed comparison of Hispanic students across generational groups. Highlighted characteristics of Hispanic public school students include: (1) More than 80% of Hispanic public school students were born in the United States; (2) More than half of all Hispanic students are enrolled in public schools in Texas and California; (3) Foreign-born Hispanic students are more likely than native-born Hispanic students to live in "new" and "emerging" Hispanic states; (4) Hispanic kindergartners in public schools are overwhelmingly born in the U.S. (93%), compared with 86% of Hispanic students in grades 1 through 8 and 77% in high school; (5) Majority of Hispanic students are of Mexican origin, followed by Puerto Rican, Dominican, Salvadoran and Cuban; (6) Nearly three-in-five Hispanic students live in households with both of their parents compared with 69% of non-Hispanic white students and 30% of non-Hispanic black students; (7) More than seven-in-ten U.S. born Hispanic students of immigrant parents live with both parents; (8) 28% of Hispanic students live in poverty, compared with 16% of non-Hispanic students; (9) Foreign-born Hispanic students are more likely than their native-born counterparts to live in poverty; (10) 34% of Hispanic public school students have parents who have not completed high school, compare to 7% of non-Hispanic students; (11) 70% of Hispanic students speak a language other than English at home; (12) Almost 30% of Hispanic public school students report speaking only English at home, and an additional 52% of Hispanic public school students report speaking English "very well" ; (13) Nearly half of first-generation students speak English with difficulty, compared with 20% of second-generation students and 5% of the third-and-higher generations; and (14) Most Hispanic students live in households in which at least one household member over the age of 13 speaks only English in the home or speaks English very well. Two appendices are included: (1) Demographics of Public School Students; and (2) Generational Distribution of Hispanic Public School Students. (Contains 13 footnotes, 8 figures and 15 tables.)

Students designated as English language learners (ELL) tend to go to public schools that have low standardized test scores. However, these low levels of assessed proficiency are not solely attributable to poor achievement by ELL students. These same schools report poor achievement by other major student groups as well, and have a set of characteristics associated generally with poor standardized test performance such as high student-teacher ratios, high student enrollments and high levels of students living in or near poverty. When ELL students are not isolated in these low-achieving schools, their gap in test score results is considerably narrower, according to newly available standardized testing data for public schools in the five states with the largest numbers of ELL students. Most of the report's findings are based on analyses using three U.S. Department of Education databases. The analysis of mathematics performance on state-designed assessments across different types of public schools utilizes the new National Longitudinal School-Level State Assessment Score Database (NLSLSASD), which maintains state standardized assessment test results for every public school in a state. Using the NLSLSASD's standardized testing results by subgroup, the analysis illuminates the potential role of school isolation in student test score performance. This report builds on previous findings by illustrating that the educational isolation of ELL students is associated with the math proficiency gap between English language learners and other students. It also shows that white and black students who attend the public schools in which ELL students are concentrated are doing worse than their peers who attend public schools with few English language learner students. Other key findings include: (1) Nationally, the English language learner student population is expected to grow rapidly; (2) In the five states with large ELL student populations, the proportion of ELL students scoring at or above the proficient level on the state mathematics test is often below the proportion of black students scoring at or above the proficient level; (3) In both elementary grades and middle school grades in these states, ELL students are less likely than white students to score at or above the proficient level in mathematics, with measured gaps in double-digits; (4) ELL students who took the state mathematics assessment were concentrated in the public schools required to publicly disclose ELL testing results; (5) In the five states with large ELL student populations, the public schools in which ELL test-takers are concentrated are more likely to be central city schools; (6) Public schools in which ELL test-takers are concentrated have a higher enrollment, on average, than other public schools in the state; (7) Middle schools in which ELL test-takers are concentrated have, on average, higher student-to-teacher ratios than other public schools in the state; (8) Public schools in which ELL test-takers are concentrated have, on average, a greater proportion of students qualifying for free or reduced-price school lunches; and (9) Public schools in which English language learner students are concentrated are more likely to be designated Title I schools. Data sources and additional tables are appended. (Contains 11 footnotes, 14 figures, and 7 tables.

This report provides the most up-to-date snapshot available of the ethnic and racial composition of the public schools educating the nation's pre-kindergarten through 12th-grade students; it also compares this 2005-06 portrait with the same portrait taken in the 1993-94 school year. Levels of racial and ethnic segregation and integration in the public schools are, of course, affected by factors other than the demographic changes in the school population at large. They are affected by the geographic dispersion of racial and ethnic groups; by local residential housing patterns; and by desegregation policies at the school district level. This report however tracks the changes over a 12-year period in the levels of racial and ethnic isolation and exposure in public schools among black, white, Hispanic and Asian students. The report provides detailed tabulations of school enrollment at the state level and finds that in nearly every state white students became more exposed to minority students since 1993-94. In many states Hispanic students and black students have diminished exposure to white students. (Contains 8 tables.)

The gap in the number of Latino and white college students who graduate with a bachelor's degree is wider even than the very substantial differences in high school completion and constitutes the greatest disparity in educational outcomes between the nation's largest minority group and the white majority. Using data from the National Educational Longitudinal Survey (NELS) the report assesses the dimensions of the gap in bachelor's degree completion between Latinos and whites and some of the factors that contribute to it by focusing on the differing fates of young people who graduate from high school with similar levels of academic preparation. It finds that at several key junctures Latinos fall behind whites with similar qualifications. Even when they are on the same college pathway as white youth, they are less likely than their white peers to graduate. The best prepared Latinos fare worse than white youth of equal preparation, and the least prepared Hispanics fare worse than their least prepared white peers.

This study analyzed the size and characteristics of monolingual and bilingual workers, using the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey, which contains questions on English language Usage, second language usage, and language proficiencies. Interviews with a nationally representative sample of the U.S. adult population (in English or Spanish) investigated demographics, educational attainment in the United States and abroad, current labor force status and earnings, weeks worked during the prior year, and political and social participation. Results indicated that fluently English monolingual workers were the largest single grouping, though a sizable number of workers were either bilingual or more proficient in the second language. A sizable share of the labor force was monolingual, but not highly English proficient. There were notable differences between groups in distribution and outcomes within the labor market. About 75 percent of all workers were fluently English monolingual, and 6.5 percent were proficiently bilingual in English and another language. Native born workers comprised the largest population of bilingual workers. Skill in a second language, if accompanied by high English proficiency, related to higher pay and earnings. Proficient bilingual workers had the highest average wages of any language skill group. English/Spanish bilinguals and Spanish dominant workers experienced the poorest labor market outcomes, mainly due to poor education. (Contains 10 references.) (SM)

This study examines how different Latino generations (immigrants and their U.S.-born offspring) perform in the labor market, highlighting the wages and employment of young adults. It is based on tabulations of Current Population Survey data collected monthly by the U.S. Bureau of the Census, with the years 1995 and 2000 as the starting and closing points for the analysis. Results indicate that beyond the age of 25 years, second generation Latinos fare better than similar immigrant Latinos. They are better paid, their rates of job-holding are at least as high, and they experience similar unemployment rates. By the time they reach prime working age, most second generation Latinos fare at least as well as African Americans, though their labor force outcomes are markedly worse than those of whites. High education levels are a prerequisite for second generation Latinos to reach parity with white earnings levels. Many second generation Latinos are in school during their teens and early twenties, but about a quarter of them work and study at the same time. Foreign-born Latino teens who are new arrivals earn substantially more than second generation Latino teens. Second generation Latino teens are paid less, experience higher unemployment, and have much lower rates of job-holding than recently arrived immigrant Latino teens. (Contains 19 references.) (SM)