Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees - GCIR

Hispanics now make up 22% of all children under the age of 18 in the United States--up from 9% in 1980--and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.

A majority (52%) of the nation's 16 million Hispanic children are now "second generation," meaning they are the U.S.-born sons or daughters of at least one foreign-born parent, typically someone who came to this country in the immigration wave from Mexico, Central America and South America that began around 1980. Some 11% of Latino children are "first generation"--meaning they themselves are foreign-born. And 37% are "third generation or higher"--meaning they are the U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents.

This report presents findings from several existing and new Pew Hispanic Center analyses of U.S. Census Bureau data. The analysis of the legal status of Hispanic children utilized the augmented March 2008 Current Population Survey. The historical and current profile of Hispanic children derives from new analyses of Decennial Census and American Community Survey data.