Discursive Essay on Hispanic Unemployment

The phrase income inequality is commonly used in modern-day English around the world; however, do people really know the true meaning of this phrase? Income inequality is something that can harm many upcoming generations and can set standards for different ethnicities within America. Income inequality has many different properties that cause the problem it does.

One of the leading factors as to why income inequality is a problem is the lack of education. With a lack of education can produce a lack of jobs or in other words income. Although education is freely provided in the United States, some Hispanic and Latino legal United States citizens can’t afford things that come along with school.

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1. Literature: The sources that are listed in this article have been carefully inspected to insure correct statistics and information. Not only do they convey a real understanding when diving deeper into income inequality, but they also show real-life experiences and reactions to how income inequality is affecting/affecting lives today.
2. Definitions: To ensure that the article is understandable to all readers the following terminology is used frequently throughout the article/research. These terminologies help to show who, what and why it’s influencing our country today.

• Income inequality is an extreme disparity of income distributions with a high concentration of income usually in the hands of a small percentage of a population.
• Higher status: higher rank than that of others
• Class systems: a system in which social status is largely determined by the family into which a person is born
• Hispanics: relating to Spain or to Spanish-speaking countries, especially those of Latin America.
• Latino: in North America) a person of Latin American origin or descent
• Immigrant: a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country.
• Education:
• Self-identify: assign a particular characteristic or categorization to oneself; describe oneself as belonging to a particular category or group.
• Independent: free from outside control; not depending on another's authority.

To begin with, income inequality has a major effect on two important ethnicities. In the article, it explains, that Hispanics have had a peak in jobless rates, with a 3.9% in September (Fitzgerald). This is good news that the jobless rate has dropped significantly but it still is a problem in the modern day. This is because more and more Latino and Hispanic ethnicities are coming to America. The increasing growth of the U.S Hispanic inhabitance or population, which can be caused by immigration, has led to income inequality (William & Kandel). These immigrants want nothing but freedom in America. Although, when they arrive they struggle with an epidemic that is spreading across the country. Lastly, “Yes, joblessness is down, and that's great. But Hispanics earn about one-fourth less than white workers do” (Garsd). Citizens should be independent and provide for themselves, but this epidemic should not be as big of a problem as it has grown to be. Ethnicity has a major effect of the jobs of people in America, but it can also have an effect of Caucasian ethnicity.

Income Inequality and how it affects people of Caucasian ethnicity can cause an imbalance in society, or in other words, higher status. In the article, it informs that lower levels of inequality show that higher modern position jobs require more education to the more modern and well-educated person. Although, normal or substantial paying jobs are given to well-educated and modernly educated options. (Parrado & Kandel). This informs us that more of the Caucasian ethnicity has access to more education now, which can essentially indicate more of a higher-level job. Therefore, income inequality can cause Caucasian ethnicity to have a higher-class status. As stated before, “Yes, joblessness is down, and that's great. But Hispanics earn about one-fourth less than white workers do”(Garsd). This evidence shows that inequality can take a toll on many citizens and leads to part of the problem of this large gap have to do with ethnicity. Lastly, Hispanics have started to adapt to the new environment of America and America is adapting to them. Hispanic residents are discriminated against in the workforce and outside the workforce (William & Kandel). This article goes on to explain how Caucasian ethnicity has more advantages. Such include income with the workplace to living areas in the community. Not only does this affect the Caucasians, it deeply affects the Latino ethnicity.

Income Inequality can have a significant effect one Latino ethnicity in terms of class systems. Income inequality can impact people significantly including the status of Latinos. In the text, it clearly states, “Outside of Bend, more affordable real estate markets cater to rapidly growing Hispanic and non-Hispanic communities whose residents often work in construction and low-skilled services” (William & Kandel). This shows that Latinos are discriminated against outside of work too. In addition, In August, the unemployment rate for Hispanics and Latinos, aged 16 and up, was 4.2%”(Garsd). Although the unemployment rate is lower it still is a large problem to communities. This is because the amount of legal immigrants is growing and can this percentage stay low when the number of Latinos keeps growing? Lastly, “Araceli has three jobs to provide for her family” (Garsd). This shows Latino ethnicity influences people in communities or civilizations. Araceli a legal immigrant has to uphold three jobs to provide for her family. To show more of the problem of Income Inequality, it helps to take a deeper look into ethnicity and why it is a problem in modern-day American jobs.

Income Inequality towards Hispanic Ethnicity can be outstanding. First, the article states, “…many Hispanics do not read, write, speak, or understand Spanish; some may not even self-identify as Hispanic. This article examines heterogeneity and income inequality among Hispanic Americans. Two processes that influence Hispanic heterogeneity include acculturation and labor market discrimination because of skin shade/ phenotype”(Mason). Most Hispanic and Latino ethnicities share this certain stereotype. Secondly, the lower-skilled working class and high-skilled working-class form income inequality (William & Kandel). If documented immigrants were provided with the education needed it could help to prevent this gap. In one perspective, Hispanic population growth will contribute to high amounts of inequality. This is because it increases and studies the number of low-skilled workers. This affects the wages and decreases them and drives poverty up (William & Kandel). Hispanic ethnicity can show how it makes income harder to get in the average family. To evaluate the income inequality more, look into Latino income.

Significance: Income inequality can also be towards Latinos and Hispanics in terms of growing numbers in the text it states, that over seven million Latin-American immigrants have come to the U.S. 1990s. This is almost double the number of Hispanics in one decade. The unemployment has gone down significantly, it is now at 4.2% for Latinos. This is the lowest record in history and poverty continues to drop as well (Garsd). As stated before, Araceli, a Latino woman has three jobs to be able to support her family. Not only Hispanic ethnicity deals with income inequality, so do Latinos. You can see this problem arises with the low pay given. I decided to use this evidence again because it can be looked over quite easily. This Latino woman upholds three jobs and takes care of her children while her husband works as well. Looking into Income inequality and why it is so common to these ethnicities is a cause of stereotyping. Lastly, “More than 7 million Latin-American migrants entered the United States during the 1990s, almost doubling the number of foreign-born Hispanics in a single decade”(Parrado & Kandel). Although these are undocumented immigrants I believe that even helping a small portion (documented) with education could start a chain reaction. With both of these ethnicities facing problems every day, it shows just how much a couple of dollars less can change people’s lives.

The lower pay given to the ethnicities can prove why it is such a problem in America today. In the text it states, “...we expect that increases in agricultural and construction employment, as well as service industry employment, would contribute to inequality in rural areas, relative to manufacturing employment” (Parrado & Kandel). This article tells how unskilled workers cannot obtain a higher-end job with higher pay. Instead, they uphold a lower class job such as agriculture, which requires less skill, education, and in endless money. Many Hispanic and Latino immigrants who don’t have legal status in the United States struggle even more than legal immigrants. Although being an undocumented immigrant is against the law, America could solve this problem by providing education and skills to documented immigrants in need. Legal immigrants use the majority of their money just trying to get into the United States. This also can make it hard to start a business in America or get an education. This is part of the reason Hispanics and Latinos make less money than the average all-American person (Garsd). Less skilled Latino and Hispanics work in manufacturing (William & Kandel). When working in manufacturing can pay few bills it won't for long due to upcoming technology. America could solve this problem with documented immigrants and provide more help and support to them. The lack of skills among these legal immigrants leads directly to education.

The lack of education between Hispanic and Latino ethnicity is immense. The first article argues that relatively less educated and unskilled Hispanic immigrants contribute to income inequality. This is because of their low levels of human capability and expertise restrict their earning power (William & Kandel). This shows that without an education finding or obtaining a job is difficult. Secondly, “Low levels of inequality prevalent among agricultural societies are predicted to increase as employment shifts to the higher paying modern sector during early stages of development. Inequality is expected to peak at intermediate levels of development and ultimately decrease at some advanced stage when substantial portions to the population are employed in the modern sector” (Parrado & Kandel). Although females don’t have jobs as Latinos very often this may be because of the lack of education that is required (William & Kandel). Also, tying into bad education can be how much English is spoken or taught to these ethnicities.

Many Latinos and Hispanics speak very little if not any English. Many Hispanic who have come to America for a new way of life can't read, write or speak English. This can be a leading factor in why income inequality is common in America (William & Kandel). This can make it more difficult to find a well-paying job. One of the main reasons for income inequality is less English fluency and less work experience (William & Kandel). If just a few hours a day was taken aside to teach these simple mechanisms that could change many upcoming generations, what are we waiting for? Lastly, the article states, “... Many Hispanics do not read, write, speak, or understand Spanish; some may not even self-identify as Hispanic. This article examines heterogeneity and income inequality among Hispanic Americans. Two processes that influence Hispanic heterogeneity include acculturation and labor market discrimination because of skin shade/ phenotype” (William & Kandel). This can also lead to stereotyping.

Stereotyping between Hispanics and Latinos is very common. Foremost, “Low levels of inequality prevalent among agricultural societies…(Parrado & Kandel). 'This can be due to the stereotype received by Caucasian ethnicity or American citizens of any race. Legal immigrants tend to lean towards agriculture because they give more of an opportunity to the ethnicities of Latino and Hispanics. Two processes that influence Hispanic heterogeneity include acculturation and labor market discrimination because of skin shade/ phenotype”(Mason). Documented immigrants are part of our country and discrimination just from looks should not be what decides their bank account. Lastly, “ …to speak English without an accent (as determined by the interviewer) are included as explanatory variables, language acculturation increases income independently of English language skills that may increase workplace productivity”(Mason). This shows even an accent can set a stereotype and could potentially cause a legal immigrant to not get a job. Because of these stereotypes, it could lead to Intergenerational Poverty.

Intergenerational poverty means poverty is passed on from generation to generation. First off, the text clearly states, “This pro- cess provides a natural experiment for appraising the relative importance of acculturation, discrimination, and income inequality”(Mason). This can show that acculturation, discrimination, and income inequality is important to upcoming generations. These generations should have a fresh and clean start in America and not have to worry about a lack of education, which can later lead to poverty. Next, the author states, this way of living is affecting the next generation and causing a chain reaction (William & Kandel). As a united nation citizens should always consider the next generation and help them in understanding and learning. This could not only fix the income inequality problem but also grow America to become more successful and independent. Finally, when the Hispanic population grows it changes the family income inequality. (Parrado & Kandel). This shows that not only do parents or adults have to deal with this epidemic, but also children observe their parents go through hard times with money, bills, etc. The children of America are going to be frightened to grow due to the stress and stereotype that has been set just because of who they are. The next generation can show completely new numbers.

More and more legal immigrants are coming but can America keep up with the numbers? First off, the text clearly states, “So, despite low unemployment numbers, economists urge caution” (Garsd). This shows that Hispanic and Latino legal immigrants or documented immigrants' number could change at any time. Our country should be ready for these changes. Secondly, the article tells how countries grow in manufacturing (William & Kandel). Although, manufacturing won't be around for long due to the amount of technology coming out. Finally, although inequality decreased slightly in Hispanic countries, Slower growing countries noticed an increase in inequality among the community. Fast-growing Hispanic countries and fast-growth non-Hispanic counties had increased with inequality (William & Kandel). The number will change and if the country won’t change the education and inequality gap, is the United States really united?

Limitations: Although the research is outstanding there are a few limitations in the study. For example, the study does not look at the whole nation combined into one. The articles come from credible sources but in some cases, facts may be distorted or looked at in a different way. Lastly, the evidence could be slightly out of date. This research has been cast over many years and few pieces of evidence have changed since.

This information can be used to start a new trend and new beginning to Latino and Hispanic documented citizens in the United States. This trend of making more aware of what income inequality is and how it is affecting people can help stop it from spreading. If helping children lacking in education for just a few hours a day can change the entire future, then what are we waiting for?

In the end, Trump once stated, “People are working, they’re making money”’(Fitzgerald). But is it enough money? Income inequality is affecting United States citizens. This could be friends, families, co-workers, and acquaintances. This phrase is used quite often, but nothing is done to deal with it. Not only are Hispanic and Latino individuals (legal immigrants) discriminated against class-wise but also, they’re lacking immense education. Income Inequality can be defined as what holds back America from being a United Nation.

Works Cited

1. Bannister, Craig. “Hispanic Unemployment Rate Ties All-Time Low.” 6 Sept. 2019,
2. Fitzgerald, Maggie. “Black and Hispanic Unemployment Is at a Record Low.” Black and Hispanic Unemployment Is at a Record Low, 4 Oct. 2019.
3. Garsd, Jasmine. “Hispanic Unemployment Has Hit Record Lows. But Does That Mean Progress?” Hispanic Unemployment Has Hit Record Lows. But Does That Mean Progress?, 25 May 2019, 8:00 AM
4. Grusky, David, et al. “Hispanic Poverty & Inequality.” Inequality.stanford.edu.
5. Horowitz , Julia. “Ivanka Trump Says Hispanic Unemployment Is at Its Lowest Rate Ever. She's Right.” Money.cnn.com, 8 Dec. 2019, 5:05 PM,
6. Mason, Patrick L. 'Annual income, hourly wages, and identity among Mexican‐Americans and other Latinos.' Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society 43.4 (2004): 817-834.
7. Parrado, Emilio k, and William A Kandel. “ Hispanic Population Growth and Rural Income Inequality.” Hispanic Population Growth and Rural Income Inequality.
8. Wilson, Valerie. “Latest Data: Black Unemployment Is at Least Twice as High as White Unemployment at the National Level and in 14 States and the District of Columbia .” 4 Apr. 2019