1. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children of Immigrants in the American Community Survey Mark Mather Population Reference Bureau Presentation at Migration Policy Institute October 16, 2008

2. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Why Focus on the Children of Immigrants? Mostly ignored in immigration debate Fast-growing, leading a race/ethnic shift in U.S. population Unique policy needs

3. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Using the ACS to Look at Trends for Children in Immigrant Families Sources of data on children in immigrant families Current Population Survey (http://www.census.gov/cps/)http://www.census.gov/cps/ Decennial Census (http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html)http://www.census.gov/main/www/cen2000.html ACS (http://www.census.gov/acs)http://www.census.gov/acs ACS advantages More accurate than CPS More timely than decennial census Provides the annual data needed to track fast-changing populations ACS immigration data can be compared to decennial census data Exception: Residence one year ago See www.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/compACS.htmwww.census.gov/acs/www/UseData/compACS.htm

4. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Defining Children in Immigrant Families Children under age 18 who are foreign-born or who reside with at least one foreign-born parent. The foreign-born status of children not living with either parent is based on the status of the child Children living in subfamilies are linked to their co- resident parent(s) and not the householder

5. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children in Immigrant Families, 1990-2006

6. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Using the ACS to Look at Social/Economic Characteristics of Children in Immigrant Families ACS designed to measure socioeconomic trends in small geographic areas. But also useful for looking at small and scattered populations

7. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU English Ability Among Children and their Foreign-Born Parents, 2006

8. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children in Poor and Low-Income Families, 2006

9. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Child Poverty by Race/Ethnicity, 2006

10. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Accessing ACS Data on Children of Immigrants: Published Tables KIDS COUNT / PRB (www.kidscount.org)www.kidscount.org Migration Policy Institute (www.migrationpolicy.org)www.migrationpolicy.org National Center for Children in Poverty ( www.nccp.org)www.nccp.org Urban Institute (www.urban.org)www.urban.org Don Hernandez (University at Albany)

11. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Accessing ACS Data on Children of Immigrants: Custom Tables Data Ferrett (http://dataferrett.census.gov/)http://dataferrett.census.gov/ IPUMS (http://usa.ipums.org/usa/)http://usa.ipums.org/usa/ Download census public use files (http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/acs_pums_2007_1yr.html)http://factfinder.census.gov/home/en/acs_pums_2007_1yr.html Need SAS, SPSS, or other statistical software

12. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU KIDS COUNT Data Center

13. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU KIDS COUNT Data Center: Children in Immigrant Families

14. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU KIDS COUNT Data Center: Children in Immigrant Families

15. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors,* 2006 *Neither parent is proficient in English; Neither parent is a U.S. citizen; Neither parent has more than a 9th grade education; Neither parent has been in the country more than 10 years.

16. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors in DC-MD-VA, 2006

17. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU Children in Immigrant Families with High Demographic Risk Factors in Washington DC and Surrounding Area, 2006

18. © 2008 POPULATION REFERENCE BUREAU For More Information U.S. Census Bureau website (www.census.gov/acs)www.census.gov/acs ACS Compass Products (forthcoming from Census Bureau) Annie E. Casey Foundations KIDS COUNT website (www.kidscount.org)www.kidscount.org PRB (www.prb.org)www.prb.org Mark Mather mmather@prb.org ; 202-939-5433