Assignment 3
The results of
searching for white vs. Hispanic/Latino income and poverty rates were
interesting and yielded results I was not expecting. It turns out that Hispanics and Latinos have
a much higher annual income than the average white household. It breaks it down
further into 2 family homes, 3, 4, and so on, yet the overriding conclusion is
that the average annual income is still heavily in favor of Hispanics/Latinos. The
average income for a white family was just under 47,000, while the Hispanic average
was almost triple that. I expected results maybe the opposite of what I found,
but it is interesting because I knew nothing about Provincetown before this
research. The poverty in Provincetown was 15.7 percent, and what I found there
was also surprising.
The
amount of white people in poverty in Provincetown were far superior to any
other race in comparison. There were 314 white compared to 98 black, and this
was in absolute numbers. Families with 2,3, or 4 people in them weren’t too
different in terms of how poverty stricken they were, but the biggest sign was
who was working within those families. In the Provincetown breakdown, 58
percent of poverty stricken families featured no working parents. Part time
work accounted for 37 percent, while only 4 percent featured both parents
working. This clearly displays the significance of full time work and the lack
of a sufficient economy.
Thirdly,
poverty levels for native born people as opposed to foreign born was a telling
case as well. Just over 15 percent of native born people were below the poverty
line, while 26 percent of foreign born people were in the same category. This
tells me that is harder to succeed coming into Provincetown as opposed to
living there from the start, and with the economy already struggling it will be
tougher for foreign born people to get work once coming to the town. Per capita
income for white people in Provincetown was just above 41,000, while every other
race averaged out was right at 40,000. This shows a relatively good balance,
yet the initial numbers of whites compared to Hispanic/Latino families tells a
different story. It is interesting to look into places you have never been
to/heard of, and that was the case here.
Median household income in 2009 ($)
white: 46,777
Hispanic or Latino: 159,063
2009:
| Provincetown: |
15.7% |
| Whole state: |
10.3% |