Indian Americans live up to 'model minority' tag
Monday, 20 December 2004, 20:30 IST   |    2 Comments
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WASHINGTON: Indian Americans, often labelled the "model minority" with the highest levels of education and high income levels, are living up to their name, according to the latest statistics released by the US Census Bureau. The Census Bureau report titled, "We the People: Asians in the United States 2000" says there are 1.65 million Americans purely of Indian origin and 1.86 million when including some mixed parentage in the US. The figure is occasionally questioned by Indian Americans as an undercount. The report shows that as a whole, Asians do pretty well for themselves and are among the top rung in the ladder of success. But it is a diverse group that has many sub-groups not doing so well. Indian American men had the highest year-round, full-time median earnings ($51,900), followed by Japanese, with earnings of $50,900. The median income of Asian families was over $9,000 higher than the median for all families at $59,300 compared with $50,000. Interestingly, the data shows a majority of Indians in this country came after 1990 (54 percent), and nearly 82 percent came after 1980. Not to be ignored, however, was the fact that more than nine percent of Indian Americans were at the poverty level, even though it was among the three lowest in Asian groups. According to data provided, in 2000, Indians had the highest percentage holding a bachelor's degree, about 64 percent, more than the Japanese, who however, have the highest number of those above high school. Of the total US population (281 million in 2000), 11.9 million people, or 4.2 percent, reported they were Asian. This number included 10.2 million people, or 3.6 percent, who reported only Asian and 1.7 million people, or 0.6 percent, who reported Asian and at least one other race. Census 2000 found that, among 10 million Asians in the United States, five groups numbered one million or more: Indians, Chinese, Filipino, Korean, and Vietnamese. Together these groups made up about 80 percent of the Asian population. Chinese formed the largest group and represented about 24 percent of the Asian population, followed by Filipinos, Indians, Vietnamese, and Korean. Six other Asian groups, including Pakistanis, constituted about 15 percent. While 90 percent of Americans are natives, only about 31 percent of Asians can be similarly classified. In 2000, 69 percent of all Asians were foreign born, with Indian Americans going as high as 75 percent foreign born. Even though nearly 55 percent of Indian Americans were citizens, this meant 45 percent of them were non-citizens, a concern many Indian American community leaders have voiced. They maintain that to exert political clout to match economic prowess, more Indians should move to become citizens. Among men, Asian Indians and Pakistani men had the highest labour-force participation (79 percent and 77 percent). Only 54 percent of Indian women, however, were in the labour force compared to 65 percent of Filipino women, the highest. Only 40 percent of Pakistani women were in the labour force. Indian Americans had also the highest proportion of those employed in management, professional and related occupations, at 60 percent. They also had the least number employed in the service jobs, at less than 15 percent. This may be because a significant proportion prefer to branch out into their own businesses. Indians today own nearly 40 percent of the hospitality properties in the US, and make up a notable proportion of doctors. Till the IT bust in 2000, Indians were predominant in the technology businesses. They also own and run chains of mom-and-pop stores and newspaper stands around the country. Asians as a whole were more likely than the total population to be in management, professional, and related occupations. Asian men and women who worked year-round, full-time, had higher median earnings than all men and women. In 1999, among year-round fulltime workers, the median earnings of Asian men were nine percent higher than those of all men, and the median earnings of Asian women were 14 percent higher than those of all women. But Asian women earned $76 to every $100 their Asian male counterparts earned. Indian, Japanese, and Chinese men had higher median earnings than Asian men and all men. Japanese, Indian, and Chinese women had the highest median earnings of all detailed Asian female groups and higher median earnings than all Asian women. They also earned between $4,300 and $8,800 more annually than all women. Indian Americans and Japanese families' median incomes were more than $10,000 higher than that of all Asian families. Cambodian, Hmong, Korean, Laotian, Pakistani, Thai, and Vietnamese median family incomes were substantially lower than the median for all Asian families. The median incomes of Hmong and Cambodian families were the lowest of all Asian groups ($32,400 and $35,600, respectively).
Source: IANS
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