EMBARGOED UNTIL: 12:01 A.M. EDT, MAY 5, 2000 (FRIDAY) Public Information Office CB00-76 301-457-3030/301-457-3670 (fax) 301-457-1037 (TDD) e-mail: pio@census.gov Karen Humes/Jesse McKinnon 301-457-2402 2 in 5 of Asians and Pacific Islanders Have Bachelor Degrees or Higher, Census Bureau Reports In 1999, 3 out of 10 Asians and Pacific Islanders were under age 18, more than half lived in the West and 2 in 5 age 25 and over had earned at least a bachelor's degree, according to tables released today by the Commerce Department's Census Bureau. The Internet tables from the March 1999 Current Population Survey (CPS) show characteristics for the Asian and Pacific Islander population, such as age, marital status, family type and size, education, occupation, income, poverty and housing. They also show comparable national data for non-Hispanic Whites. Other highlights: - Asians and Pacific Islanders were more likely than non-Hispanic Whites to have a bachelor's degree or higher, 42 percent versus 28 percent. - Fifty-three percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders and 57 percent of non-Hispanic Whites age 15 and over were married and lived with their spouse. Thirty-four percent of Asians and Pacific Islanders and 24 percent of non-Hispanic Whites 15 years old and over had never married. - A similar proportion of Asians and Pacific Islanders (66 percent) and non-Hispanic Whites (67 percent) 16 years old and over were in the civilian labor force. - There was no statistical difference in the proportion of Asian and Pacific Islander families (53 percent) and non-Hispanic White families (52 percent) with incomes of $50,000 or more. - In 1998, the poverty rate for Asians and Pacific Islanders was 13 percent, compared with 8 percent for non-Hispanic Whites. - About 52 percent of the Asian and Pacific Islander householders were homeowners compared with 73 percent of non-Hispanic White householders. The Asian and Pacific Islander population includes many groups who differ in language, culture and how long they have been in this country. Some of the Asian groups, such as the Chinese and Japanese, have been here for several generations. Others, such as the Hmong, Vietnamese, Laotians and Cambodians, immigrated to the United States comparatively recently. Relatively few Pacific Islanders are foreign-born; Hawaiians are, of course, native to the United States. Also today, the Census Bureau released the Asian Pacific American Heritage Month Facts for Features, a brief compendium of current Census Bureau statistics on Asians and Pacific Islanders. Later this year, the Census Bureau will release The Asian and Pacific Islander Population in the United States: March 1999, an analytical report on the country's Asian and Pacific Islander population, which uses data collected in the March 1999 CPS. In addition to this report with 1999 data, the report for 1998 also was released today. The data are from the March 1998 CPS supplement. Statistics from sample surveys are subject to sampling and nonsampling error.