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.
available free from Adobe.
