Key Findings by Race and Ethnicity

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Data from the National Survey of America's Families show that nonelderly American families experienced some notable improvements in well-being between 1997 and 1999. Poverty rates declined, the proportion of children living in two-parent families rose, and low-income families had fewer concerns about affording food than before (Zedlewski 2000; Moore and Vandivere 2000). These national gains, however, obscure the fact that white families experienced more gains between 1997 and 1999 than either black or Hispanic families.

Using data collected by the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), this Snapshot compares changes in seven indicators of family well-being—employment, family income, food hardship, housing hardship, family structure, health insurance, and health status—between 1997 and 1999 by race and ethnicity.1 Data are grouped into three racial and ethnic categories: white non-Hispanics, black non-Hispanics, and Hispanics of all races (referred to as white, black, and Hispanic, respectively). Data for Asian and Native American populations are not shown separately, due to their small sample sizes. In 1999, 70 percent of nonelderly persons in the United States were white (table 3 on page 6). Blacks, at 13 percent of the population, were the largest minority group in the United States, and the Hispanic population was almost as large, representing 12 percent of the total.

Between 1997 and 1999, well-being among white families improved in five out of seven indicators—family income, food hardship, housing hardship, family structure, and health insurance. Black families realized gains in only one indicator—employment—during the period, and experienced losses in another indicator—housing hardship. Between 1997 and 1999, Hispanic families saw decreases in poverty and the rate of single-parent families, but they experienced some declines in health status and health insurance.

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The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of public consideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, its trustees, or its funders.

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