Since the end of the Great Recession, Latinos’ views about their personal finances have grown much more positive and have now pulled even with the general U.S. population and they are actually outpacing the general population in terms of optimism about the future, pewhispanic.org reports.
The share of Latinos who say their personal finances are in “good” or “excellent” shape has grown 17 percent since 2008 and now sits at 40 percent. During this same time period, the share of all Americans who have a similarly positive view about their finances has remained somewhat stagnant, rising just 2 percent from 41 percent in 2008 to 43 percent in 2015.
In addition, 81 percent of Hispanics believe their financial situation will improve in the next year. In 2008, this number was at 67 percent. The U.S. population as a whole is not quite as confident; 61 percent believe their financial situation will improve within the next year, up 5 percent from the 56 percent who said this in 2008.
Latinos are the largest minority group in the United States with a population of 55.3 million in 2014. They are also one of the fastest-growing groups in the country as the population grew 57 percent between 2000 and 2014. However, despite this fast growth rate and their general confidence in their financial situation, data from the federal government paints a much more blurry picture for the Hispanic community. For example, while it has improved, the group’s unemployment rate is still higher (6.4 percent) than non-hispanics (4.8 percent) and median household income has also remained essentially unchanged since the Great Recession.
For a full analysis of the data, click the link below.
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