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Latinos Key to Arizona Population Growth

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In-depth analysis nonetheless shows increase could have been greater

Latinos were pivotal to the population growth in Arizona in the last decade, comprising nearly half (48%) of the overall increase in residents since 2000, according to a National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials (NALEO) Educational Fund analysis of newly released Census 2010 data.

A climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted

A climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted

Between 2000 and 2010, while the state’s overall population grew 25% from 5.1 million to 6.4 million, the Latino population grew from 1.3 million to 1.9 million, an increase of 46%.  Arizona is the second-fastest growing state in the nation, and gained one additional congressional seat as a result.  Latinos now represent 30% of the state’s residents and are the second-largest population group.

“There is no doubt that Latinos are a key part of our state’s growth.  These numbers show we will continue to play a larger and larger role in the state,” said NALEO Board Member Mayor Fernando Shipley of Globe, Arizona.  “As the state now undertakes the redistricting process, we have to be sure that these numbers become an opportunity for full and fair representation for the Latino community.”

The Census 2010 data also reveal that 43% of all Arizonans under 18 are Latino, and that the Arizona Latino population is significantly younger than the non-Latino population.

In addition, figures show significant Latino populations in most of Arizona’s largest cities, including Phoenix (41%), Tucson(42%) and Glendale (35%).  Nearly all of Arizona’s Latinos (96%) live in the state’s ten largest counties, with 60% residing inMaricopa County alone.

However, the 2010 Census data fall below estimates of the population.  For instance, in the state’s most populous county, Maricopa — home of the capital city of Phoenix — the U.S. Census Bureau had estimated there would be 235,704 more residents than what the actual Census count shows.   The estimates also show that the state averaged a -4% difference in population.

From our extensive work in overcoming barriers to full Census participation, the NALEO Educational Fund knows that fear and distrust of government are among the leading causes of not participating in the Census, and we are concerned the hostile environment in the state during last year’s enumeration may have contributed to a Census count significantly below the projections.  No other state has had such a difference between the 2010 population estimates and the 2010 Census count.

“It is unfortunate that a climate of hostility toward Latinos could have played a part in our community not participating in the Census and therefore not being counted,” said former NALEO Educational Fund Board Member and Patagonia (AZ) School Board Member Cynthia Matus Morris.  “When we have people who are made to fear being counted, all residents of Arizonalose.”

(Click here to view the NALEO Educational Fund 2010 Arizona Census Profile)

Charles Bukowski

Charles Bukowski

About NALEO Educational Fund

The NALEO Educational Fund is the nation’s leading non-partisan, non-profit organization that facilitates the full participation of Latinos in the American political process, from citizenship to public service.

Fox News targets Latinos with new website

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"About a third of the country is going to be of Latino heritage by 2050 and we thought it was time to launch a site with more of a focus," said Michael Clemente, Fox News' senior vice president of news editorial.

“About a third of the country is going to be of Latino heritage by 2050 and we thought it was time to launch a site with more of a focus,” said Michael Clemente, Fox News’ senior vice president of news editorial.

Fox News plans to launch this fall a website aimed at a Latino audience as it seeks to build its coverage and links with one of the fastest-growing U.S. communities.

Fox News, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, said on Wednesday the new site FOX News Latino (www.FoxNewsLatino.com) will provide original news and features focused exclusively on the Latino community.

The U.S. Latino population is one of the fastest growing, accounting for around 15.4 percent of the population in 2008, up from 12.5 percent in 2000, according to Pew Research. As that population grows, marketers are spending more of their advertising dollars with Hispanic media outlets.

“About a third of the country is going to be of Latino heritage by 2050 and we thought it was time to launch a site with more of a focus,” said Michael Clemente, Fox News’ senior vice president of news editorial.

But Clemente said it was unlikely Fox News will launch a news television channel focused on the Latino community.

“It’s not on the drawing board. There’s just too much to be had among the 700 cable channel universe right now.”

The new website will feature videos and other content in both Spanish and English with reports from the United States as well as South and Central America, and the West Indies, among other regions.

Some content from the site will appear on FoxNews.com’s “Strategy Room,” the political, entertainment and lifestyle talk show streamed live on the Web every weekday.

Fox News is the most-watched cable news channel in the United States and in the last year has expanded its lead over rivals like CNN, which is owned by Time Warner Inc and MSNBC, a unit of NBC Universal which owned by General Electric Co.

Clemente said he sees little risk that a Latino audience would avoid a website backed by Fox News because of the cable TV network’s conservative pundits, whose views on issues like immigration can be at odds with the Latino community.

“I don’t think there’ll be conflict,” he said. “We will do what we always do on the news side which is to be very fair and balanced on all sides of the issue in our reporting.”

News Corp shares closed 36 cents to $13.39 on Nasdaq.

Source: Reuters

Latinos Online, 2006-2008: Narrowing the Gap

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From 2006 to 2008, internet use among Latino adults rose by 10 percentage points, from 54% to 64%.  In comparison, the rates for whites rose four percentage points, and the rates for blacks rose only two percentage points during that time period.  Though Latinos continue to lag behind whites, the gap in internet use has shrunk considerably.

For Latinos, the increase in internet use has been fueled in large part by increases in internet use among groups that have typically had very low rates of internet use.  In particular, foreign-born Latinos, Latinos with less than a high school education, and Latinos with household incomes of less than $30,000 experienced particularly large increases in internet use.

Whereas Latinos gained markedly in overall internet use, the pattern of home internet access changed very little.  In 2006, 79% of Latinos online that had internet access at home, while in 2008, this number was 81%.  White and black internet users show a similar leveling off.  In 2006, 92% of white internet users had a home connection, compared with 94% in 2008. In 2006, 84% of African American internet users had a home connection, compared with 87% in 2008.

While there was little increase in the likelihood of having a home connection among internet users from 2006 to 2008, rates of broadband connection increased dramatically for Hispanics, as well as for whites and blacks.  In 2006, 63% of Hispanics with home internet access had a broadband connection; in 2008 this number was 76%.  For whites, there was a 17 percentage point increase in broadband connection from 65% to 82%, and for blacks, the increase was from 63% in 2006 to 78% in 2008.

These results are derived from a compilation of eight landline telephone surveys conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center and the Pew Internet & American Life Project from February to October 2006, and from August to December 2008.  In total, the Pew Hispanic Center surveys included 7,554 adults, and the Pew Internet & American Life Project surveys interviewed 13,687 adults.

Source: Gretchen Livingston, Senior Researcher, Pew Hispanic Center
Kim Parker, Senior Researcher, Pew Social & Demographic Trends Project
Susannah Fox, Associate Director, Pew Internet & American Life Project