--- title: "III. Economic Characteristics" description: "Labor Force A greater share of native-born Hispanic women than immigrant Hispanic women participate in the labor force. The majority of Hispanic women participate in the labor force; that is, they are either employed or actively seeking employment. Fully 59% of Hispanic women participate in the labor force, compared with 61% of non-Hispanic women. A […]" date: "2008-05-08" authors: - name: "Felisa Gonzales" job_title: "Guest Contributor" url: "https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2008/05/08/iii-economic-characteristics/" --- # III. Economic Characteristics ### Labor Force ** ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-13.png) A greater share of native-born Hispanic women than immigrant Hispanic women participate in the labor force. - The majority of Hispanic women participate in the labor force; that is, they are either employed or actively seeking employment. Fully 59% of Hispanic women participate in the labor force, compared with 61% of non-Hispanic women. - ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-14.png) A greater share of native-born Hispanic women than immigrant Hispanic women participate in the labor force, 64% compared with 54% for immigrants. - Native-born Hispanic women are more likely than immigrant Hispanic women to be employed, either full time or part time. Six-in-ten (61%) native-born Hispanic women are employed as compared with five-in-ten (51%) immigrant Hispanic women. - Immigrant Hispanic women from Mexico are the least likely of all Hispanic immigrant women to be employed. Less than half (46%) of immigrant Hispanic women from Mexico are employed, compared with 52% of immigrant Hispanic women from the Caribbean, 61% from South America and 63% from Central America. ### Weekly Earnings ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-15.png) *Hispanic women employed full time earn lower median weekly wages than non-Hispanic women.* - Median weekly earnings for Hispanic women who are employed full-time are $460 per week. The median weekly earnings of non-Hispanic women, $615, are 34% higher. - Native-born Hispanic women earn more than immigrant Hispanic women. Among Hispanic women who are employed full time, the median weekly earnings of thenative born are 35% greatethan those of immigrant Hispanic women, $540 versus $400. - ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-16.png) Immigrant Hispanic women from Mexico have the lowest median weekly earnings of all immigrant Hispanic women. Immigrant Hispanic women from Mexico earn 9% less than immigrant Hispanic women from Central America, 15% less than those from the Caribbean, and 31% less than those from South America. ### Household Income in 2006 ** ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-17.png) Hispanic women are more likely to live in lower income households and less likely to reside in upper income households than non-Hispanic women. - Hispanic women are much more likely than non-Hispanic women to live in a lower-income household53% compared with 34%. - Among Hispanic women, the majority of the native born are members of the middle and upper income groups (55%) while the majority of immigrants are members of the lower income group (61%). ### Definition of Income Groups In this section, household incomes are adjusted for the number of people in a household and are presented for a household size of three (see Section II Appendix of Pew Social and Demographic Trends, “[Inside the Middle Class: Bad Times Hit the Good Life](https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2008/04/09/inside-the-middle-class-bad-times-hit-the-good-life/)” (April 2008) for a more detailed explanation of adjusted household income and income group assignments). In 2006, the median household income scaled to represent a three-person household was $32,046. By our definition, a woman is considered middle income if she lives in a household with an annual income that falls within 75% to 150% of the median household income. In 2006, that income range for a three-person household was $24,035 to $48,069. A woman whose median household income is above that range is considered in the upper income group; a woman whose household income is below that range is in the lower income group. ### Poverty[4. numoffset="4" A woman is defined as living in poverty if her family income-to-poverty ratio is 1.00 or greater. The income-to-poverty ratio is a person’s family income divided by a government-calculated poverty threshold that is based upon family size and type. For more information about how the income-to-poverty ratio is calculated, see [http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/povdef.html](http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/about/overview/measure.html).] ** ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-18.png) Hispanic women are nearly twice as likely as non-Hispanic women to live in poverty. - Hispanic women are nearly twice as likely as non-Hispanic women to live in poverty. One-in-five (20%) Hispanic women live in poverty, compared with one-in-ten (11%) of non-Hispanic women. - Immigrant Hispanic women are slightly more likely than native-born Hispanic women to live in poverty, 22% versus 18%. ### Occupation *Hispanic women are much more likely than non-Hispanic women to be employed in blue-collar occupations.* - Hispanic women are more likely than non-Hispanic women to be employed in blue-collar occupations such as building, grounds cleaning and maintenance (10% versus 2%); food preparation and serving-related jobs (9% versus 6%); production (8% versus 4%); and personal care and service occupations (7% versus 5%). - The most common occupations held by Hispanic women are in office and administrative support. One-in-five (21%) employed Hispanic women are in those occupations, a similar share as for non-Hispanic women (22%). ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-19.png) - ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-20.png) Hispanic women account for 12% of the employed female population in the United States. However, they account for 42% of women employed in farming, fishing and forestry occupations; 37% of women in building and grounds cleaning and maintenance occupations; and 23% of women in production occupations. - The majority of Hispanic women employed in occupations listed in Table 4 are immigrants. Three-quarters or more of the Hispanic women employed in farming, fishing and forestry; building and grounds cleaning and maintenance; production; and construction and extraction occupations were foreign-born. ### Industry *Hispanic women are overrepresented in industries with relatively more blue-collar jobs.* - Hispanic women are more likely than non-Hispanic women to work in the following industries: eating, drinking and lodging services (11% versus 6%); personal and laundry services/private household services (6% versus 3%); and nondurable goods manufacturing (5% versus 3%). - More Hispanic women work in the wholesale/retail trade industry than any other industry. One-in-seven (15%) Hispanic women work in the wholesale/retail trade industry, a similar share as for non-Hispanic women (14%). ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-21.png) - Immigrant Hispanic women are represented to a much larger degree than native-born Hispanic women in agricultural, manufacturing and service-oriented industries. Two-thirds or more of the Hispanic women who work in the agriculture, forestry, fishing and mining; nondurable goods manufacturing; personal and laundry services/private household services; and eating, drinking and lodging services industries are immigrants. ![](https://assets.pewresearch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/7/2008/05/2007-hispanic-women-22.png) --- **Next:** [Appendix Tables](https://www.pewresearch.org/race-and-ethnicity/2008/05/08/appendix-tables-2.md)