Hispanic Community Struggles Essay

Problems Hispanic Communities Face What is the top issue faced by Hispanic communities recently? It may not be what you think. Most people believe that immigration is the top struggle, however this is not the case. Hispanics face many other problems in their daily lives in America such as unemployment, high drop-out rates, high crime, lack of healthcare, and much more. I will discuss some of the main problems that are faced by Hispanics daily. To start off, Latinos tend to have a high unemployment rate which leads to many in poverty. In 2010, Hispanic unemployment hit a peak of 12.13% in contrast of 8.9% for those who are not Hispanic. Although this might not seem like a lot, it is a drastic difference between the two percentages of groups. Recently, the rate of unemployment has decreased, but not by a lot, meaning many are still living in low income households. “Two-thirds of U.S. Latino children live in low-income households and about one-third live in poverty” (Lilley). Healthcare is another major issue that the Hispanic community are facing. Many Latinos are not aware of the benefits of healthcare and the services they provide. For example, “according to research reported in Health Services Research in 2013, 40 percent of whites with a …show more content…
Many Latino students tend to drop out after they hit the age of 16. The high school dropout rate for Latino youths (17%) is about three times as high as white youths drop-out rate (6%), and it is almost double the rate of blacks (9%) (Pew Research Center). Not only do many drop-out, but many also do not pursue college after high school. Economic factors play a major role in why many Latinos are not attending college. “In a 2014 National Journal poll, 66% of Hispanics who got a job or entered the military directly after high school cited the need to help support their family as a reason for not enrolling in college, compared with 39% of whites”