More than eighteen% of Americans identify as Hispanic or Latino, the nation'southward second largest racial or indigenous grouping. But two trends – a long-standing high intermarriage rate and a decade of declining Latin American immigration – are distancing some Americans with Hispanic beginnings from the life experiences of earlier generations, reducing the likelihood they call themselves Hispanic or Latino.

Among the estimated 42.7 meg U.S. adults with Hispanic beginnings in 2015, nine-in-10 (89%), or about 37.eight million, self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. Only another 5 1000000 (11%) do not consider themselves Hispanic or Latino, according to Pew Research Center estimates. The closer they are to their immigrant roots, the more likely Americans with Hispanic ancestry are to identify equally Hispanic. Nigh all immigrant adults from Latin America or Spain (97%) say they are Hispanic. Similarly, second-generation adults with Hispanic beginnings (the U.S.-born children of at least one immigrant parent) have nigh as high a Hispanic self-identification rate (92%), co-ordinate to Pew Research Eye estimates.

By the third generation – a group made upward of the U.S.-born children of U.South.-born parents and immigrant grandparents – the share that self-identifies as Hispanic falls to 77%. And past the quaternary or higher generation (U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents and U.S.-built-in grandparents, or even more afar relatives), merely half of U.Due south. adults with Hispanic ancestry say they are Hispanic.1

Among adults who say they take Hispanic ancestors (a parent, grandparent, great grandparent or earlier ancestor) but do not self-place as Hispanic, the vast majority – 81% – say they have never idea of themselves as Hispanic, according to a Pew Research Middle survey of the group. When asked why this is the instance in an open-ended follow-up question, the single most common response (27%) was that their Hispanic ancestry is too far back or their background is mixed.

This report explores the attitudes and experiences of two groups of adults. The start are those who are self-identified Hispanics. This is the usual group of Hispanics that are profiled in Pew Research Center and Census Agency reports and are reported on equally a distinct racial/ethnic group. Throughout the report, this grouping is labelled as "Self-identified Hispanics."

The second are those who have Hispanic ancestry simply practice not consider themselves Hispanic – i.due east., self-identified not-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry. This is the first time this group's opinions, attitudes and views have been studied in depth. Throughout the report, this second grouping is referred to equally "cocky-identified not-Hispanics" or "self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry."

Racial and ethnic identity on surveys and in the U.S. decennial census is measured by respondents' cocky-reports. Any survey respondent who says they are Hispanic is counted as Hispanic, and those who say they are not Hispanic are not counted every bit such. This practice has been in place on the census since 1980 for Hispanic identity and since 1970 for racial identity.

These findings emerge from two Pew Research Center national surveys that explored attitudes and experiences about Hispanic identity amongst ii populations. The first survey, conducted Oct. 21-November. 30, 2015, in English and Castilian, explored the attitudes and experiences of a nationally representative sample of 1,500 self-identified Hispanic adults. The 2nd is a first-of-its-kind national survey of 401 U.S. adults who indicated they had Hispanic, Latino, Spanish or Latin American ancestry or heritage (in the course of parents, grandparents or other relatives) but did not consider themselves Hispanic. It was offered in English and Spanish from November. xi, 2015-Feb. vii, 2016, but all respondents took the survey in English language. Both surveys were conducted by SSRS for Pew Inquiry Center. Together, these 2 surveys provide a look at the identity experiences and views of U.Due south. adults who say they have Hispanic ancestry.

Declining immigration, loftier intermarriage rates

Clearing from Latin America played a primal role in the U.S. Hispanic population'south growth and its identity during the 1980s and 1990s. But by the 2000s, U.S. births overtook the arrival of new immigrants as the main driver of Hispanic population dynamics. And the Groovy Recession,two coupled with many other factors, significantly slowed the flow of new immigrants into the state, especially from Mexico. Every bit a result, the U.South. Hispanic population is still growing, merely at a charge per unit nearly half of what it was over a decade ago as fewer immigrants arrive in the U.S. and the fertility charge per unit among Hispanic women has declined.

Over the same flow, the Latino intermarriage rate remained relatively high and changed little. In 2015, 25.one% of Latino newlyweds married a non-Latino spouse and 18.3% of all married Latinos were intermarried;3 in 1980, 26.4% of Latino newlyweds intermarried and eighteen.1% of all married Latinos had a non-Latino spouse, according to a Pew Research Center assay of regime data. In both 1980 and 2015, Latino intermarried rates were higher than those for blacks or whites.4 Intermarriage rates too vary inside the Latino population: 39% of married U.S.-born adults had a non-Latino spouse while merely 15% of married immigrant Latinos did.

As a result of loftier intermarriage rates, some of today's Latinos have parents or grandparents of mixed heritage, with that share higher among afterwards generations. Co-ordinate to the surveys, 18% of immigrants say that they have a non-Latino parent or grandparent in their family, a share that rises to 29% among the second generation and 65% among the tertiary or college generation, according to the Pew Research Centre survey of self-identified Latino adults. And for those who say they have Latino ancestry simply do not identify as Latino, fully 96% say they have some non-Latino heritage in their background.

A similar pattern is nowadays among those who are married, according to the two surveys. Some 78% of all married Hispanics accept a spouse who is also Hispanic, according to the survey of self-identified Hispanics. But that share declines across the generations. Near all married immigrant Hispanics (93%) have a Hispanic spouse, while 63% among second-generation married Hispanics and just 35% amid married third-generation Hispanics have a Hispanic spouse. Meanwhile, but 15% of married U.Due south. adults who say they are not Hispanic but have Hispanic ancestry have a Hispanic spouse.

These trends may have implications for the shape of Hispanic identity today. With and then many U.Southward.-born Hispanics of Hispanic and not-Hispanic heritages, their views and experiences with Hispanic culture and identity vary depending on how close they are to their family's immigrant experiences.

These trends also have implications for the futurity of Hispanic identity in the U.South. Lower immigration levels than in the past and continued high intermarriage rates may combine to produce a growing number of U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestors who may not identify as Hispanic or Latino. And fifty-fifty among those who do self-identify as Hispanic or Latino, those in the second and third or higher generations may run across their identity equally more than tied to the U.Due south. than to the origins of their parents, a pattern observed in many previousv Pew Research Centre Latino surveys.

Every bit a outcome, even estimates of the number of Americans who self-place equally Hispanic could be lower than currently projected. The latest population projections emphasize the size and speed of Hispanic population growth – co-ordinate to Pew Research Center projections, the nation'southward Hispanic population volition be 24% of all Americans by 2065, compared with eighteen% in 2015. But these projections assume that many electric current trends, including Hispanic self-identity trends, volition continue. If they modify, growth in the population of self-identified Hispanics could dull even further and the nation's ain sense of its diversity could change as fewer than expected Americans of Hispanic beginnings self-identify every bit Hispanic.

What is Hispanic identity?

When it comes to describing themselves and what makes someone Hispanic, there is some consensus across self-identified Hispanics. However, non all Hispanics agree, with views oftentimes linked to immigrant generation.

The immigrant feel is an important part of the U.Due south. Hispanic feel. Roughly four-in-ten self-identified U.S. Hispanics (38%)6 are immigrants themselves, a share that rises to 53% among adult Hispanics, according to a Pew Research Eye analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data. Meanwhile, 62% of Hispanics are U.S. born, a share that falls to 48% amid adult Hispanics.

Some U.S.-born Latinos have direct links to their family unit's immigrant roots – 34% are the U.S.-born children of at to the lowest degree 1 immigrant parent, or office of the 2nd generation. Others are more distant from those roots – 28% are the U.S.-built-in children of U.S.-born Latino parents, or of the tertiary or college generation.

Terms used most often to describe identity

The terms that self-identified Hispanics use to draw themselves tin provide a directly await at their views of identity and the link to their countries of birth or family origin. Amidst all Hispanic adults, for case, half say they most often describe themselves by their family unit's country of origin or heritage, using terms such every bit Mexican, Cuban, Puerto Rican or Salvadoran. Some other 23% say they virtually often call themselves American. The other 23% nearly often describe themselves as "Hispanic" or "Latino," the pan-ethnic terms used to describe this group in the U.Due south., co-ordinate to the survey of self-identified Hispanics.vii

However, the apply of these terms varies widely across immigrant generations and reflects the unlike experiences of each group of Hispanics.

Two-thirds (65%) of immigrant Latinos most often uses the name of their origin country to describe themselves, the highest share amongst the generations. That share falls to 36% among second-generation Latinos and to 26% among 3rd or higher generation Latinos.

Meanwhile, the share that says they most often use the term "American" to describe themselves rises from 7% among immigrants to 56% among the third generation or higher, mirroring, in contrary, the use pattern for country of origin terms. 3rd or higher generation Latinos were born in the U.S. to U.Southward.-born parents, and these findings show that for this group, their ties to their U.Southward. national identity are stiff.

Another measure of identity is how much Hispanics feel a mutual identity with other Americans. Overall, U.Southward. Hispanics are divided on this question: Half (50%) consider themselves to exist a typical American while 44% say they are very different from a typical American. Just this finding masks large differences beyond the generations. Some 36% of immigrant Hispanics consider themselves a typical American. That share rises to 63% among second-generation Hispanics and to 73% among third or higher generation Hispanics, reflecting their birth country (the U.S.) and their lifetime experiences.

Does speaking Castilian or having a Spanish last proper noun make one Hispanic?

Speaking Spanish is a characteristic often linked to Latino identity. For case, some say that y'all cannot be Latino unless you happen to speak Spanish, or that someone is "more Latino" if they speak Spanish than someone who does not speak Spanish but is also of Latino heritage.

This came up during a debate in the 2016 presidential entrada, when Republican candidate U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio questioned whether Ted Cruz, another senator and GOP candidate, spoke Spanish.

Withal, when straight asked about the link between Latino identity and speaking Spanish, seven-in-ten (71%) Latino adults say speaking Castilian is not required to be considered Latino. Even amid immigrant Latinos, a majority (58%) holds this view most Spanish and Latino identity. And among U.S.-built-in Latinos, college shares say the same: 84% of 2d-generation Latinos and 92% of third or college generation Latinos (the grouping farthest from their family's immigrant roots) say speaking Spanish does not brand someone Latino.

Some other feature that for some is seen as of import to Hispanic identity is having a Spanish last proper name. Still, here likewise, the vast bulk (84%) of self-identified Hispanics say it is not necessary to take a Spanish last name to exist considered Hispanic, no affair their immigrant generation.

Non all Americans with Hispanic ancestry cocky-place as Hispanic

Racial and ethnic identity in the U.S. since the 1960s has been based on self-reports: Y'all are what you say you are. This is how race and ethnicity is measured in government surveys, as well as in surveys by Pew Research Centre and other research groups. As a consequence, there are some Americans who say they have Hispanic beginnings but do not consider themselves Hispanic.

Overall, this group represents 2% of the national adult population, amounting to 5 one thousand thousand adults, according to the Center'due south estimates. Or, looked at another way, amidst the 42.vii million U.S. adults who say they take Hispanic ancestry, 11% practise non identify as Hispanic.

This group also has distant immigrant roots. Some 38% are quaternary or higher generation, i.e., the U.Southward.-born children of U.Southward.-born parents, U.S.-born grandparents and probable other U.Southward. built-in ancestors. Some other 23% are third generation (the U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents), 17% are 2d generation (the U.S.-built-in children of at least one immigrant parent), and just 12% are immigrants, according to the Pew Research Center survey of cocky-identified not-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry.

For adults with Hispanic ancestry who do non self-identify as Hispanic, 81% say they have never considered themselves Hispanic or Latino. The reasons for this are many and are ofttimes linked to mixed backgrounds, limited contact with Hispanic relatives and few Hispanic cultural links, co-ordinate to a follow-upwardly open up-ended question. For example, some 27% said they practise not consider themselves Hispanic because they have a mixed Hispanic and non-Hispanic groundwork or that their Hispanic ancestry is as well distant. Another sixteen% said they do not consider themselves Hispanic despite their Hispanic ancestry because of their upbringing or that they have petty contact with their Hispanic relatives; fifteen% said the reason they say they are not Hispanic is because they do not speak Spanish or have no link to Hispanic civilisation; 12% said they exercise not look Hispanic or they identify every bit another race; and nine% said they were born in the U.Due south. and consider themselves American.

Latino cultural traditions, Spanish use and connections to family unit's origin state

The conversations parents have with their children and the cultural cues they provide while their children are growing upwardly can have a large impact on their children's identity in machismo. Yet, the number of Hispanic cultural activities experienced by Americans with Hispanic beginnings declines across the generations, mirroring the finding that Hispanic cocky-identity as well fades across generations.

Parents and their pride in their Latino origins

Immigrant and second-generation self-identified Hispanics (57% and 50% respectively) are almost likely to say their parents talked often about their pride in their country of origin roots. But by the third generation, only 33% say their parents talked frequently well-nigh their pride in their roots while growing up.

For cocky-identified not-Hispanics, the majority of whom are of the 3rd or higher immigrant generation, simply 15% say they ofttimes heard their parents talk oft about their pride in their ancestor's country of origin.

Attending Hispanic cultural celebrations in babyhood

Across immigrant generations, reports of babyhood experiences with Hispanic cultural celebrations, such as posadas or quinceañeras, decline for Americans with Hispanic ancestry the farther they are from their immigrant roots.

Amongst immigrant self-identified Hispanics, 59% say that when they were growing upwards, their parents took them to Hispanic cultural celebrations often, reflecting that the majority of this grouping grew up exterior the U.Southward.

2d-generation self-identified Hispanics were nigh as probable to say this happened during their babyhood. Half (49%) report that when they were growing up, their immigrant parents took them often to Hispanic cultural celebrations. A smaller share (35%) of third or higher generation cocky-identified Hispanics report the same virtually their childhoods.

By comparison, among Americans who say they have a Latino beginnings, only do not self-identify equally Latino, just 9% study that when they were growing upwardly, their parents took them to Latino cultural celebrations. Meanwhile, sixty% say this never happened.

Parents encouraged Spanish

Some other important mode that parents can encourage their children's Hispanic self-identity is through their apply of linguistic communication. Even so, the 2 surveys reveal that the childhood experiences with Spanish fade rapidly beyond the generations, even though there is broad support for the language among Hispanics.

Fully 85% of foreign-born self-identified Hispanics say that when they were growing up, their parents often encouraged them to speak Spanish. Simply that share falls to 68% among the U.South.-born second generation and to just 26% of the third or higher generation Hispanics.

By dissimilarity, just nine% of self-identified not-Hispanics with Hispanic beginnings say their parents often encouraged them to speak Castilian, again reflecting the distance this grouping has from its immigrant roots.

Spanish use declines across the generations even as Latinos say it is important to speak it

About 40 one thousand thousand people in the U.S. say they speak Spanish in their home today, making Spanish the 2nd nigh spoken language in the U.Due south. But while the number of Castilian speakers nationally is ascension, among self-identified Hispanics the share who speak it at home is in turn down.

The two Pew Research Heart surveys explored how respondents rated their own ability to speak and read Spanish and to speak and read English.

Among self-identified Hispanics, 61% of immigrants are Spanish ascendant, significant they are more skillful in speaking and reading in Spanish than they are in English language. Past comparison, merely 6% of the second generation is Spanish dominant and essentially none of the third generation is Spanish dominant, co-ordinate to the Eye's estimates.

While a modest share of U.S.-built-in Latinos are Castilian ascendant, a larger share is bilingual. Amid 2d-generation cocky-identified Latinos – i.e., the U.S.-born children of immigrant parents – about one-half (51%) are bilingual. Among third or college generation self-identified Latinos, that share is 24%.

Meanwhile, English say-so rises beyond the generations. Among foreign-born self-identified Hispanics, but vii% say they more often than not employ English. This share rises to 43% in the second generation, and 75% in the third or higher generation.

The language contour of self-identified non-Hispanics who take Hispanic ancestry is different. Fully 90% say they are English ascendant and just 10% are bilingual.

Despite a decline in Spanish employ beyond generations, there is widespread support for its apply in the future. Overall, 88% of cocky-identified Hispanics and 64% of cocky-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry say information technology is important that future generations of Hispanics living in the U.S. speak Spanish.

Connections to family's state of origin fade across generations

Amongst self-identified Hispanics, connections with ancestral national origins refuse as immigrant roots go more than afar. Eight-in-10 immigrants (82%) who identify every bit Hispanics say they experience very or somewhat connected with their country of origin. About seven-in-10 (69%) 2d-generation Hispanics – the children of at least i immigrant parent – say the same. All the same, by the third generation, but 44% feel very or somewhat connected to their family's state of origin.

Connections to the home country refuse fifty-fifty further amidst non-Hispanic adults with Hispanic ancestry. Only about a third of them (34%) say they experience very or somewhat connected to their family unit's land of origin, while ii-thirds (65%) say they experience not very or not continued at all to these countries.

The Hispanic experience today

The contemporary experiences linked to the Hispanic background of self-identified Hispanics and non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry vary across generations in much the way their childhood and cultural experiences do.

Does having a Hispanic heritage create advantages or disadvantages in life?

The 2 Pew Enquiry Eye surveys asked respondents whether their Hispanic heritage has made a difference in their life. Overall, Hispanic heritage has had the greatest bear on on the lives of second-generation Hispanics, half of whom (52%) say their Hispanic background has been an advantage in their lives. Past contrast, just 28% of immigrant Hispanics and 24% of third or higher generation Hispanics say the aforementioned.

By contrast, but 11% of cocky-identified non-Hispanics say their Hispanic background has been more often than not an reward for them while 86% say it has non fabricated a difference in their lives.

Majority of non-Hispanics with Hispanic beginnings think others see them every bit white

How do adults with Hispanic ancestry think strangers walking past them on the street would describe their background?

Among self-identified Hispanics, 78% of immigrants say strangers on the street would think they were Hispanic or Latino. That share falls to two-thirds amongst 2nd-generation Hispanics and 46% amidst third or higher generation Hispanics.

The share falls fifty-fifty farther, to simply 7%, among U.South. adults with Hispanic ancestry who do not cocky-identify as Hispanic. Meanwhile, 59% say passersby on the street would draw them as white, and not Hispanic or Latino.

Feel with bigotry

The two surveys explored experiences with discrimination related to being Hispanic. And just as with other measures, experiences with discrimination are less frequent among college generations of adults with Hispanic ancestry. Even so, 39% of cocky-identified Hispanics say they have felt discriminated against considering of their Hispanic or Latino background.

Some 42% of cocky-identified Latino immigrants say they have experienced discrimination often (viii%) or sometimes (34%) because of their Latino groundwork. A like share (38%) of second-generation Latinos say the same. Meanwhile 29% of third or higher generation Latinos say they have experienced the same level of discrimination.

By contrast, few self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic beginnings (7%) say they have experienced bigotry while 87% say they have never been discriminated confronting because of their Hispanic background.

How many Hispanic friends?

The composition of networks of friends varies widely across immigrant generations. Near (77%) immigrant Latinos say all or virtually of their friends are Latinos. Only this share drops to 55% among second-generation self-identified Latinos and only 37% among third or higher generation cocky-identified Latinos.

Amid self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry, 16% say all or nearly of their friends are Hispanic.

Living in Hispanic neighborhoods

The nation's Hispanic population has get more dispersed in the by few decades and has grown to 58 1000000. As a result, in 500 of the nation's more than three,000 counties, Hispanics make up at least 15.0% of the local population. Still, Hispanics are often living in neighborhoods that are largely Hispanic, especially in the S and in the Westward. The two surveys asked self-identified Hispanics and self-identified non-Hispanics with Hispanic beginnings about their neighborhoods.

Iv-in-ten (39%) cocky-identified Hispanics say that "all" (10%) or "about" (30%) of their neighbors are Hispanics. By comparing, only 17% of self-identified not-Hispanics say the same, showing that non-Hispanics with Hispanic ancestry are more dispersed across the state than their Hispanic counterparts.

Among self-identified Latinos, the strange born and the second generation are most likely to say that all or most of their neighbors share their heritage. Some 41% of both groups say this. The share that lives in largely Latino neighborhoods falls to 30% amid third or higher generation self-identified Latinos.

The terms Hispanic and Latino are used interchangeably in this report as well as the terms "self-identified Hispanic" and "cocky-identified Latino."

Self-identified Hispanics are U.S. residents who cocky-study that they are of Hispanic or Latino background. Self-identified non-Hispanics are U.S. residents who do not self-identify every bit Hispanic, but also say they have a parent or grandparent who are of Hispanic heritage.

Americans of Hispanic ancestry are those who either self-identify equally Hispanic or Latino or say they have Hispanic ancestors but practice not self-identify as Hispanic.

U.S. born refers to persons born in the United States and those built-in in other countries to parents at least i of whom was a U.S. denizen.

Foreign built-in refers to persons born exterior of the United States to parents neither of whom was a U.South. citizen. For the purposes of this report, foreign born likewise refers to those born in Puerto Rico. Although individuals born in Puerto Rico are U.S. citizens by birth, they are included among the foreign born considering they are born into a Spanish-dominant civilisation and because on many points their attitudes, views and beliefs are much closer to Hispanics born abroad than to Hispanics born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, even those who identify themselves equally being of Puerto Rican origin.

First generation refers to foreign-built-in people. The terms "foreign born," "first generation" and "immigrant" are used interchangeably in this report.

Second generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, with at least one first-generation, or immigrant, parent.

Third generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, with both parents born in the fifty states or the District of Columbia and with at to the lowest degree 1 immigrant grandparent.

3rd and higher generation refers to people born in the fifty states or the Commune of Columbia, with both parents born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

Fourth or higher generation refers to people born in the 50 states or the District of Columbia, with both parents and all four grandparents built-in in the 50 states or the District of Columbia.