Summary:The demographics panel focused on U.S. trends with a particular focus on the booming Latino population.
Bill Frey, a Senior Fellow with the Milken Institute, kicked off the panel with a brief yet descriptive synopsis of the today′s demographic picture in the United States. He pointed out three important factors that not only have contributed to the country′s current demographic structure but will continue to influence it in the future. One is the huge immigration into the U.S. particularly in the last decade. Frey said that "despite 9/11 and new immigration laws that followed as a result, immigration in the U.S would continue to rise." Second, is the phenomenon of "aging of baby boomers" and third, "the flight of the middle class."
Frey went on to illustrate his demographic perspective of the nation, which he sees as divided into three broad regions: A "Melting Pot" region, "New Sunbelt" areas, and "Heartland" communities. 70 percent of the country′s foreign born population, most of them Hispanic, live in these "melting pot" states. He stressed that immigrants are more likely to move into racially diverse "melting pot" states such as California and New York, while internal migrants are more likely to relocate into "new sunbelt" areas such as Nevada and Arizona. According to Frey, those attracted to a low density environment are more likely to move into these "new sunbelt" areas. Twenty percent of these people in the U.S. are Whites, and most of them elderly. As for the "heartland" regions, Frey does not believe that we will see migration into these areas.
Joaquin Blaya, chairman and CEO of Radio Unica Communications Corporation, shared his viewpoints. "Mexicans are reconquering the states that they had once lost," he said. "The new demography is just the old demography." Blaya commented on the significant Latino presence in the media — television, radio, etc.
"Hispanics have found that they don′t need to surrender their values and can still speak English," Blaya explains. He believes that although Hispanic teenagers are "the most difficult group to reach out to," they eventually "recapture their identity" down the road.
Finally, Blaya went on to point out that with over one trillion Hispanic mortgages, the richest Hispanic population now resides in the U.S.
Jose Legaspi, president of the Legaspi company, forecast that the next thirty years be even brighter for the Hispanic population than the last thirty years. He believes that the opportunity for Hispanic companies to open up businesses in the U.S. is phenomenal and would continue to escalate with the current market structure. While new opportunities are being fulfilled, he pointed out that many Mexican companies are still willing to relocate to the U.S. According to Legaspi, 25 percent of the sales in new Hispanic supermarkets in the United States are to Latinos.
Legaspi also commented on the generational differences in the Hispanic community. He believes that these differences can be widely attributed to the changes apparent in the subcultures of different regions.
Referring to the rising Hispanic population, he concluded by saying, "it′s a wave that is going to stay, so we might as well swim in it."
Tom Tseng, Director of Marketing for Cultural Access Group Inc., reported the findings of a survey conducted by his company relating to the Hispanic population. Among his findings, 57 percent of Hispanic youth indicate having a stronger preference in English rather than Spanish and 91 percent prefer English on internet sites. However, he believes that it is likely that although the respondents might prefer to speak English outside the home, Spanish is what they speak at home.
Tseng concluded the panel by expressing his opinion that America′s ethnic orientation would be altered in the next generation.
