Key facts about Asian Americans living in poverty
Burmese (19%) and Hmong Americans (17%) were among the Asian origin groups with the highest poverty rates in 2022.
Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Burmese (19%) and Hmong Americans (17%) were among the Asian origin groups with the highest poverty rates in 2022.
32% of U.S.-born Asian adults have hidden a part of their heritage, compared with 15% of immigrants.
Across 49 focus groups with Asian immigrants, daily challenges related to speaking English emerged as a common theme. Participants also shared frustration, stress and at times sadness in dealing with cultural and language barriers, and described support they received from others.
Most Asian adults in the U.S. have been treated as a foreigner or experienced incidents where people assume they are a “model minority.”
A record 22 million Asian Americans trace their roots to more than 20 countries in East and Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent.
Among Asian Adults living in the U.S., 52% say they most often describe themselves using ethnic labels that reflect their heritage and family roots, either alone or together with “American.” About six-in-ten (59%) say that what happens to Asians in the U.S. affects their own lives.
The Asian population in the U.S. grew 81% from 2000 to 2019, from roughly 10.5 million to a record 18.9 million people.
Around three-quarters of Asian Americans (78%) have a favorable view of the United States. Majorities of Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese and Vietnamese adults in the U.S. have a favorable view of their own ancestral homeland. By contrast, fewer than half of Chinese Americans say they have a favorable opinion of China.
Here’s a look at how individual origin groups compare with the nation’s overall Asian American population.
About one-in-ten Asian Americans live in poverty. Pew Research Center conducted 18 focus groups in 12 languages to explore their stories and experiences.
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