A new report has shown that the Latino population has contributed over two trillion dollars to the United States economy in the last 12 months.
The reports show that the Latino population would be ranked as the 7th biggest economy in the world if the GDP of the Latino were a country.
The report was headed by the David E. Hayes-Bautista, a professor at the University of California and the CEO of Latino Futures Research, Werner Schink and was commissioned by the nonpartisan group Latino Donor Collaborative. The report is based on data on the Latino population that is available to the public at the U.S. Department of Commerce and the U.S. Department of Labor.
After the report was released, Hayes-Bautista stated that many reports on Latinos often focus on the Hispanic spending power instead of also focusing on their economic production. He further stated that the contribution of the Latino population was more of an investment rather than just an expense.
“I’ve been studying Latinos for over 40 years, and you can point out some amazing things about Latinos, but people just yawn. But if you reframe Latinos in terms investors can understand, by size and growth rate, we can have a better idea of Latinos’ importance in the U.S. economy,” Hayes-Bautista said.
Latino GDP Rising
The report also shows that “The U.S. Latino GDP is growing 70 percent faster than the country’s non-Latino GDP.”
“For instance, 70 percent of the growth in our workforce is Latino. In the 75 years, he has reviewed data, said Hayes-Bautista, Latinos have consistently ranked at the top, with the highest labour force participation rates.
The report also dispels the notion that non-U.S. citizen Latinos don’t take part in the work force like other populations. The report also shows that male Latinos who are not US citizens participated actively and contributed to the workforce with the most effective being the men between the ages of 25 to 49 being the most effective.
Hayes-Bautista has spent a large chunk of his career dispelling degrading views on Latinos and his role at California, Stanford and UCLA have given him the opportunity to see the incredible contributions that the Hispanic community has made to their development of the United States. “Our perception of Latinos is based on an old model” he explained.
The report also showed that immigration is no longer the defining factor in the Latino population growth. “Immigrant growth has been fading out, and their kids are taking over, the millennials and post millennials are going to be driving our economy,” he said.
“When you look at burgeoning cities throughout the country since the 1970s, Latinos have revitalized or saved those regions from massive decline as the non-Latino white population ages. Hayes-Bautista said dispelling the notion that immigration from Hispanic countries is still very high which led to the misguided “President Trump Wall” move.
“Latinos work more hours, work less in the public sector, and have the lowest rates of welfare utilization,” Hayes-Bautista said. Yet despite their low relative burden to taxpayers, “their reward is the highest level of poverty in the nation.”
“If the U.S. realized how vital Latinos are to the future of the United States, there would be greater investment in education, infrastructure, job training, and health care, rather than a constant flow of negative messaging about gangbangers” Hayes-Bautista said.
The report also shows that the growth of the economy depends largely on the coming together of all ethnic groups and generations rather than alienating certain groups which led to the recent White Supremacist movement in Virginia.