Children who speak another language at home |
Number (in thousands) |
3,826 |
5,177 |
6,264 |
6,657 |
8,815 |
9,526 |
9,764 |
9,793 |
9,854 |
9,977 |
10,507 |
10,862 |
Language spokenc (in thousands) |
Spanish |
2,529 |
3,550 |
4,314 |
5,037 |
6,339 |
6,533 |
6,794 |
6,859 |
7,021 |
7,103 |
7,530 |
7,805 |
Other Indo-European |
622 |
727 |
505 |
514 |
433 |
1,535 |
1,489 |
1,480 |
1,398 |
1,440 |
1,462 |
1,458 |
Asian and Pacific Island languages |
160 |
551 |
978 |
504 |
1,177 |
1,147 |
1,152 |
1,127 |
1,110 |
1,116 |
1,140 |
1,177 |
Other languages |
515 |
349 |
467 |
602 |
865 |
311 |
329 |
327 |
324 |
318 |
375 |
422 |
Ability to speak English (in thousands) |
Very well |
2,576 |
3,369 |
4,104 |
4,226 |
6,185 |
6,640 |
6,920 |
7,012 |
6,973 |
7,202 |
7,701 |
8,095 |
Well |
783 |
1,144 |
1,436 |
1,538 |
1,743 |
1,754 |
1,723 |
1,709 |
1,852 |
1,774 |
1,818 |
1,792 |
Not well |
362 |
568 |
627 |
749 |
758 |
926 |
923 |
906 |
869 |
828 |
819 |
817 |
Not at all |
105 |
96 |
97 |
143 |
130 |
206 |
198 |
166 |
159 |
173 |
169 |
158 |
Percentage of school-aged children |
8.5 |
12.3 |
13.2 |
14.1 |
16.7 |
18.1 |
18.5 |
18.5 |
18.6 |
18.9 |
19.9 |
20.3 |
Poverty statusd |
In poverty |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
28.4 |
28.9 |
29.1 |
28.4 |
28.2 |
30.2 |
30.2 |
Not in poverty |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
16.1 |
16.5 |
16.4 |
16.7 |
16.9 |
17.7 |
18.4 |
Nativity statuse |
Native child and parents |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5.0 |
5.1 |
4.8 |
4.7 |
4.6 |
5.0 |
5.1 |
Foreign-born parent |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
72.0 |
71.7 |
71.0 |
71.0 |
71.0 |
71.8 |
72.1 |
Native child |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
66.9 |
66.4 |
65.7 |
66.2 |
66.4 |
67.1 |
67.8 |
Foreign-born child |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
87.9 |
88.7 |
88.6 |
87.5 |
87.5 |
88.6 |
88.2 |
Family structure |
Two married parents |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
18.5 |
19.0 |
19.1 |
19.5 |
19.8 |
20.4 |
21.2 |
Mother only |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
15.8 |
16.5 |
16.5 |
16.2 |
16.4 |
17.9 |
18.0 |
Father only |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
19.3 |
18.7 |
17.6 |
18.1 |
18.5 |
21.1 |
20.9 |
No parent |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
20.1 |
19.9 |
20.1 |
18.3 |
18.4 |
20.4 |
20.1 |
Education of parentf |
Less than high school graduate |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
47.4 |
48.1 |
51.0 |
53.5 |
53.2 |
55.3 |
56.1 |
High school graduate |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
15.5 |
16.6 |
17.2 |
18.0 |
18.8 |
20.4 |
22.0 |
Some college |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
12.4 |
12.8 |
12.4 |
12.6 |
12.6 |
13.4 |
13.7 |
Bachelors degree or higher |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
12.9 |
12.8 |
12.6 |
12.6 |
12.8 |
13.2 |
13.6 |
Race and Hispanic origing |
White |
8.7 |
12.0 |
12.6 |
13.3 |
16.4 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
White-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
14.4 |
14.4 |
14.1 |
14.5 |
14.5 |
14.7 |
14.8 |
White, non-Hispanic |
3.2 |
3.3 |
3.3 |
3.6 |
3.9 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
White-alone, non-Hispanic |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5.7 |
5.7 |
5.6 |
5.1 |
5.3 |
5.6 |
5.7 |
Black |
1.9 |
3.1 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
5.8 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Black-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.1 |
5.8 |
5.4 |
6.0 |
6.1 |
Black, non-Hispanic |
1.3 |
2.3 |
3.7 |
3.0 |
4.5 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Black-alone, non-Hispanic |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.4 |
4.5 |
4.5 |
5.0 |
4.7 |
5.3 |
5.5 |
American Indian and Alaskan Native |
— |
16.6 |
13.6 |
17.8 |
20.4 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
American Indian and Alaskan Native-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
20.5 |
24.2 |
22.3 |
20.7 |
17.0 |
20.0 |
22.4 |
Asian and Pacific Islanderh |
— |
62.2 |
65.2 |
60.2 |
60.4 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Asian-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
67.1 |
66.6 |
64.4 |
63.5 |
63.4 |
64.0 |
63.6 |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
29.8 |
36.9 |
31.5 |
26.0 |
32.6 |
29.8 |
32.9 |
Other |
44.5 |
43.6 |
51.7 |
64.0 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Some other race alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
75.4 |
72.6 |
73.6 |
73.0 |
74.1 |
74.5 |
74.8 |
Two or more races |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
17.6 |
17.5 |
16.8 |
14.8 |
13.4 |
14.4 |
14.3 |
Hispanic (of any race)i |
75.1 |
69.4 |
71.5 |
73.8 |
70.9 |
68.6 |
68.7 |
67.8 |
67.6 |
67.4 |
68.9 |
68.9 |
Regionj |
Northeast |
10.5 |
12.8 |
14.9 |
15.2 |
17.7 |
19.1 |
18.7 |
18.4 |
19.0 |
19.0 |
19.7 |
20.1 |
Midwest |
3.7 |
4.7 |
5.3 |
5.9 |
7.5 |
9.5 |
9.9 |
10.0 |
9.9 |
10.5 |
10.8 |
11.1 |
South |
6.8 |
10.6 |
10.5 |
11.7 |
14.3 |
14.6 |
15.1 |
15.4 |
15.7 |
15.6 |
16.8 |
17.3 |
West |
17.0 |
23.6 |
25.3 |
26.4 |
28.8 |
31.0 |
31.1 |
31.3 |
31.0 |
31.4 |
33.0 |
33.6 |
Living in linguistically isolated householdk |
Number (thousands) |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
2,576 |
2,749 |
2,748 |
2,950 |
2,926 |
2,952 |
2,976 |
Percentage of school-aged children |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.9 |
5.2 |
5.2 |
5.6 |
5.5 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
Characteristic |
Current Population Survey |
American Community Survey |
|
1979 |
1989 |
1992 |
1995b |
1999b |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
Children who speak another language at home and have difficulty speaking English |
Number (thousands) |
1,250 |
1,808 |
2,160 |
2,431 |
2,630 |
2,886 |
2,844 |
2,780 |
2,881 |
2,774 |
2,806 |
2,767 |
Percentage of school-aged children |
2.8 |
4.3 |
4.6 |
5.2 |
5.0 |
5.5 |
5.4 |
5.3 |
5.4 |
5.2 |
5.3 |
5.2 |
Language spokenc |
Spanish |
2.1 |
3.1 |
3.3 |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
3.8 |
4.1 |
3.9 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
Other Indo-European |
0.2 |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.2 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.5 |
Asian and Pacific Island languages |
0.1 |
0.6 |
0.8 |
0.4 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.6 |
Other languages |
0.4 |
0.2 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.5 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
Poverty Statusd |
In poverty |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
11.3 |
11.1 |
10.4 |
10.8 |
10.0 |
10.2 |
9.8 |
Not in poverty |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.3 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.2 |
Nativity statuse |
Native child and parents |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1.3 |
1.2 |
1.0 |
1.1 |
1.2 |
1.1 |
1.0 |
Foreign-born parent |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
21.8 |
21.6 |
20.8 |
21.2 |
19.4 |
19.4 |
18.7 |
Native child |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
17.2 |
16.7 |
16.1 |
16.5 |
15.1 |
15.1 |
14.6 |
Foreign-born child |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
36.0 |
36.7 |
36.3 |
37.1 |
34.6 |
34.6 |
34.0 |
Family structure |
Two married parents |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
5.4 |
5.5 |
5.4 |
5.6 |
5.4 |
5.4 |
5.3 |
Mother only |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.3 |
4.2 |
4.1 |
4.4 |
4.2 |
4.2 |
4.0 |
Father only |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
6.8 |
6.4 |
6.4 |
6.0 |
6.1 |
6.6 |
6.3 |
No parent |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
8.6 |
7.5 |
7.5 |
6.9 |
7.2 |
7.5 |
7.0 |
Education of Parentf |
Less than high school graduate |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
17.8 |
17.0 |
18.2 |
20.3 |
18.6 |
18.7 |
18.4 |
High school graduate |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.5 |
5.1 |
4.9 |
5.2 |
5.4 |
Some college |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
3.0 |
3.1 |
2.9 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
2.6 |
Bachelors degree or higher |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
2.8 |
2.9 |
2.7 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
Race and Hispanic origing |
White |
2.8 |
4.2 |
4.3 |
4.9 |
5.2 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
White-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.4 |
4.2 |
3.8 |
4.3 |
4.0 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
White, non-Hispanic |
0.5 |
0.7 |
0.6 |
0.7 |
1.0 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
White-alone, non-Hispanic |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1.3 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
Black |
0.5 |
0.7 |
1.5 |
1.5 |
1.3 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Black-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1.4 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.6 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
1.5 |
Black, non-Hispanic |
0.3 |
0.5 |
1.2 |
0.9 |
1.0 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Black-alone, non-Hispanic |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
1.2 |
1.0 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.2 |
1.3 |
1.3 |
American Indian and Alaskan Native |
— |
4.5 |
1.4 |
3.8 |
8.2 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
American Indian and Alaskan Native-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.6 |
4.4 |
4.4 |
3.8 |
3.1 |
4.1 |
4.0 |
Asian and Pacific Islander h |
— |
24.5 |
25.0 |
19.4 |
13.9 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Asian-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
19.8 |
20.5 |
18.7 |
17.5 |
16.9 |
17.2 |
16.5 |
Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander-alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
10.3 |
8.4 |
6.3 |
6.2 |
7.1 |
7.3 |
6.9 |
Other |
19.5 |
9.0 |
18.1 |
27.1 |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
Some other race alone |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
24.7 |
22.1 |
23.8 |
22.0 |
22.2 |
20.7 |
18.9 |
Two or more races |
— |
— |
— |
— |
— |
4.2 |
3.9 |
3.9 |
3.2 |
2.5 |
2.6 |
2.7 |
Hispanic (of any race)i |
28.7 |
26.7 |
27.9 |
30.9 |
23.4 |
22.8 |
21.3 |
20.5 |
20.9 |
19.7 |
19.4 |
18.5 |
Regionj |
Northeast |
2.9 |
4.5 |
4.8 |
5.0 |
4.4 |
5.0 |
5.1 |
5.0 |
5.5 |
4.8 |
4.5 |
4.4 |
Midwest |
1.1 |
1.2 |
1.5 |
2.3 |
2.0 |
2.8 |
2.9 |
3.0 |
3.2 |
3.2 |
3.1 |
3.0 |
South |
2.2 |
3.8 |
3.3 |
3.4 |
3.6 |
4.4 |
4.1 |
4.3 |
4.7 |
4.4 |
4.6 |
4.6 |
West |
6.5 |
8.6 |
9.8 |
11.4 |
10.5 |
10.0 |
9.7 |
9.0 |
8.7 |
8.8 |
8.9 |
8.6 |
— Not available. |
a Respondents were asked if the children in the household spoke a language other than English at home and how well they could speak English. Categories used for reporting were "Very well," "Well," "Not well," and "Not at all." All those reported to speak English less than "Very well" were considered to have difficulty speaking English based on an evaluation of the English-speaking ability of a sample of the children in the 1980s. |
b Numbers from the Current Population Survey (CPS) in 1995 and after may reflect changes in the survey because of newly instituted computer-assisted interviewing techniques and/or because of the change in the population controls to the 1990 Census-based estimates, with adjustments. |
c In the 1979 CPS questionnaire, the language spoken at home variable had 10 specific categories: Chinese, Filipino, French, German, Greek, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, and Other. In the 1989 CPS questionnaire, the language spoken at home variable had 34 specific categories. In the 1992 to 1999 CPS questionnaires, the language spoken at home variable had 4 categories: Spanish, Asian, Other European, and Other. In the American Community Survey (ACS), respondents are asked the question, and their response is recorded in an open-ended format. |
d Limited to the population for whom poverty status is determined. |
e Native parents means that all of the parents that the child lives with are native-born, while foreign-born means that at least one of the child's parents is foreign-born. Anyone with U.S. citizenship at birth is considered native, which includes persons born in the United States and in U.S. outlying areas, and persons born abroad with at least one American parent. |
f Highest level of educational attainment is shown for either parent. |
g For race and Hispanic–origin data in this table: From 1979 to 1999, following the 1977 OMB standards for collecting and presenting data on race, the CPS asked respondents to choose one race from the following: White, Black, American Indian or Alaskan Native, or Asian or Pacific Islander. The Census Bureau also offered an "Other" category. Beginning in 2000, following the 1997 OMB standards for collecting and presenting data on race, the ACS asked respondents to choose one or more races from the following: White, Black, Asian, American Indian or Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander. In addition, a "Some other race" category was included with OMB approval. Those who chose more than one race were classified as "Two or more races." Except for those who were "Two or more races," all race groups discussed in this table from 2000 onward refer to people who indicated only one racial identity within the racial categories presented. People who responded to the question on race by indicating only one race are referred to as the race–alone population. The use of the race–alone population in this table does not imply that it is the preferred method of presenting or analyzing data. Prior to 2000, "Asian" refers to Asians and Pacific Islanders; beginning in 2000, "Asian" refers to Asians alone. Data from 2000 onward are not directly comparable with data from earlier years. Data on race and Hispanic origin are collected separately. Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. |
h In 2000, the "Asian or Pacific Islander" category was separated into two categories, "Asian" and "Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander." Because of this change, race data from 2000 to the present are not directly comparable with data from earlier years. |
i Persons of Hispanic origin may be of any race. |
j The Northeast region includes the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont. The Midwest region includes the states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. The South region includes the states of Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia (a state equivalent). The West region includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. |
k A linguistically isolated household is one in which no person age 14 or over speaks English at least "Very well." That is, no person age 14 or over speaks only English at home, or speaks another language at home and speaks English "Very well." |
NOTE: All nonresponses to the CPS language questions are excluded from the tabulations, except in 1999. In 1999, imputations were instituted for nonresponse on the language items. |
SOURCE: U.S. Census Bureau, October (1992, 1995, and 1999) and November (1979 and 1989) Current Population Surveys, and 2000–2005 American Community Survey. |