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Hispanic Heritage Month (September 15–October 15) provides an annual opportunity to celebrate the strengths and cultural assets of our country’s Hispanic population and the many contributions Hispanics have made to the United States.
Child Trends is proud to have served as a source of trusted data, analyses, and insights on the well-being of Hispanic children and families for more than 10 years. This year, we celebrate new research out of our Latino Families Flourishing initiative and take a look back at some of Child Trends’ foundational research about the strengths of Hispanic children and families.
New Data From Latino Families Flourishing
To inform the design of its upcoming national survey, Child Trends’ Latino Families Flourishing (LFF) initiative recently completed a series of focus groups with Latino parents and primary caregivers. Our goal was to better understand what “flourishing” means to Latino families and what factors they feel contribute to, or diminish, their flourishing. Participants described flourishing as interwoven experiences of family unity, strong values and morals, economic security, growth within and across generations, biculturalism, and an overall sense of fulfillment.
LFF also learned that, while families overwhelmingly viewed themselves as being responsible for their own flourishing, they also recognized several ways in which systems limit their agency, including through immigration enforcement and uneven access to safety net programs.
Want to dive deeper into these findings? Read LFF’s new brief, “Latino Families See Family Unity as the Cornerstone of Flourishing,” watch their summary video, and join their Hispanic Heritage Month webinar on October 6.
Recognizing the Many Strengths of Hispanic Children and Families
Previous research from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families illustrated various aspects of Hispanic family life that align with LFF’s findings on flourishing. For example:
- Half of Hispanic children eat daily meals with their family.
- Most Hispanic children in low-income households live with two parents.
- 9 in 10 Hispanic children in low-income households live with at least one employed adult.
For additional data points and research from the National Research Center on Hispanic Children & Families, spanning over a decade, visit the Center’s website.
As Child Trends celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, we look forward to continuing to produce timely, insightful, and research-based information and guidance to improve outcomes for Latino children.