There is much discussion about the need to rebuild the American middle class. In order to do this effectively, the nation must address the racial wealth divide and how it affects large groups like African Americans, Native Americans and Latinos. With a total of 58.8 million (foreign-born: 36%; native-born: 62%), the Latino community ranks at 18.1% of the U.S. national population and is growing. There can be no building of a 21st century American middle class without strong asset development focused in the Latino community.

Almost one out of every five Americans is Latino. Yet the demographic representation of Latinos is concentrated in the West and Southwest, with 26% of Latinos residing in California and another 19% in Texas. The Latino population of the United States has high employment and labor force participation rates relative to other groups. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Latinos have the highest labor participation rate of the major demographic populations in the United States at 66.1%; however, their educational attainment is significantly lower compared to other major racial groups in the United States.

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Latino’s have the lowest attainment of bachelor’s degrees or higher. According to 2017 data from the American Community Survey (ACS), only about 16% of Latinos had a bachelor’s or higher. In contrast, 35.8% of whites, 21.4% of African Americans and 53.8% of Asian Americans had a bachelor’s degree or higher. Foreign-born Latinos had a higher proportion of adults with less than a high school education at 28% compared to native-born Latinos at 8%. Interestingly, foreign-born Latinos were just as likely as the native population to hold an advanced degree: 13% versus 12%.

Source: Why There Can Be No Rebuilding The American Middle Class Without Focus On The Latino Community