Race and Ethnicity Commons^™

Hispanics At The Starting Line: Poverty Among Newborn Infants In Established Gateways And New Destinations, Daniel T. Lichter, Scott R. Sanders, Kenneth M. Johnson

Faculty Publications

High rates of Hispanic fertility raise an important question: Do Hispanic newborn babies start life's race behind the starting line, poor and disadvantaged? To address this question, we link the newborn infants identified with the new fertility question in the 2006–2010 American Community Survey (ACS) to the poverty status of mothers. Our results document the disproportionately large share (40 percent) of Hispanic babies who are born into poverty. The prospect of poverty is especially high in new Hispanic destinations, especially those in rural areas. For Hispanic newborn babies, poverty cannot be reduced to supply-side explanations that emphasize maladaptive behavioral decision-making …