By Fernando A. Lozano | Inland Empire Economic Partnership
We often write in these pages about the size and growth in population of the Inland Empire.
What we have not emphasized enough, is that within this increase in population, the fastest-growing demographic are households headed by Latinas.
At first sight, this fact may raise concerns with policy makers since these neighbors tend to have less favorable socioeconomic outcomes such as lower labor earnings and these households are more likely to live below the federal poverty level and have fewer years of education. However, a closer look at the data suggests that Latinas in the region are experiencing an accelerated rise in labor market outcomes and college attendance across generations. The education and labor market gaps in the region between younger Latinas and other women are half the size as the gaps for older women.
My colleague Karla Cordova and I presented this phenomenon during a recent gathering to celebrate the region’s Latinas sponsored by the Inland Empire Economic Partnership at the Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture in Riverside.
First, we displayed data that show that during the last 15 years, and since the Great Recession, the number of households headed by Latina women in the region almost doubled. This rate is five times larger than the growth rate for households headed by non-Latina women in the region. Moreover, it is five times larger than the overall growth rate in the region. Second, our data indicated that for the Inland Empire, Latina household heads are more likely to be in the labor force than non-Latina household heads, even though Latinas have fewer years of education.
In addition, while individual labor income is lower for Latina heads than other women in the region, the total family income of households headed by Latinas is higher than the total family income by households headed by non-Latina women. These data suggest that Latina heads of household who live in our region are resilient and rely on community networks to succeed economically.
But our interest goes beyond looking at level differences. We want to explore whether there is generational change in the Latina education and labor market gaps, meaning what the development looks like over time.
Our strategy consists of comparing two different generations of women heads of household in the region: (i) those who were 25 to 29 years old in 2008 (born 1970-1974) and (ii) those who are the same age right now (born 1985 to 1990). We focus our attention on labor income and on the probability of attending college. While the older generation of Latina women trailed non-Latina women by 23 percentage points in labor income and 22 percentage points in probability of attending college, these gaps for the younger generation are much smaller. Nowadays, these gaps are 16 and 15 percentage points respectively.
To conclude, we believe that a significant part of the Inland Empire’s future is tied to the success of Latina women in the region. While more recent generations of Latinas have made important gains with respect to education and labor market outcomes, their continued success — and that of the Inland Empire — depends on the region’s ability to foster their assets, mainly resilience, community and drive.
Fernando A. Lozano is the Morris B. and Gladys S. Pendleton professor of economics at Pomona College, a member of the Governor’s Council of Economic Advisors and a senior fellow with the Inland Empire Economic Partnership.
The Inland Empire Economic Partnership’s mission is to help create a regional voice for business and quality of life in Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Its membership includes organizations in the private and public sector.
