Hispanic population booms nationwide and in Bay State
Posted on: Thursday, 19 June 2003, 06:00 CDT
The Census Bureau reported yesterday that America's Hispanic population grew four times faster in the past two years than the overall population, and local observers said the Latino boom is every bit as big in the Bay State.
"Certainly Massachusetts will go along with that same trend," said Steve Coelen, director of the Massachusetts Institute for Social and Economic Research.
The group's demographic projections, due out next month, will show a similar leap in the state's Hispanic population, he said.
"The population is rapidly increasing largely because it's a younger population and, therefore, less prone to mortality," Coelen said. Because of the younger population, he added, birth rates are higher among the group.
The rapid growth locally, as well as nationally, also has been fueled by immigration, he said.
George Borjas, of Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, who has studied the economic impact of immigration, warned that the ongoing influx could overwhelm segments of the labor market.
"Too many people chasing the existing jobs," Borjas said. "The harm will come mostly among that skill category, mainly high school dropouts."
While welcoming the increasing visibility and political clout of Hispanics, community activist Milagros Arbaje said government agencies and community groups can't afford to sit back while the local Latino community swells.
"We have to be ready for this growth," said Arbaje, director of ABCD's neighborhood service center in Mission Hill. "If the population is growing and people can't find a job, they are going to turn to other things like crime and teen pregnancy."
Nationally, Hispanics numbered 38.8 million as of July 2002, an increase of nearly 10 percent or 3.5 million since April 2000, census estimates show. The national population rose 2.5 percent during the same period to more than 288 million.
Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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