11% of American adults with Hispanic ancestry do not identify as Hispanic

More than 18% of Americans identify as Hispanic or Latino, the nation’s second largest racial or ethnic group. But two trends – a long-standing high intermarriage rate and a decade of declining immigration – are distancing some Americans with Hispanic ancestry from the life experiences of earlier generations, reducing the likelihood they call themselves Hispanic or Latino.

Among the estimated 42.7 million U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestry in 2015, nine-in-ten (89%), or about 37.8 million, self-identify as Hispanic or Latino. But another 5 million (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 as Hispanic. Nearly all immigrant adults from Latin America or Spain (97%) say they are Hispanic. Similarly, second-generation adults with Hispanic ancestry (the U.S.-born children of at least one immigrant parent) have nearly as high a Hispanic self-identification rate (92%), according to Pew Research Center estimates.

By the third generation – a group made up of the U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents and immigrant grandparents – the share that self-identifies as Hispanic falls to 77%. And by the fourth or higher generation (U.S.-born children of U.S.-born parents and U.S.-born grandparents, or even more distant relatives), just half of U.S. adults with Hispanic ancestry say they are Hispanic.

Growing up in Modesto, 18 year-old Jaqueline Hernandez says that being Hispanic was not something her and the people around her talked about.

“Honestly, I didn’t recognize it, that being Hispanic was a big thing– it was never a big topic,” she says.

When I moved to Bay Area and saw so much diversity, I started understanding my Hispanic identity,” adds Hernandez, who now lives in Hayward. 

Among adults who say they have Hispanic ancestors (a parent, grandparent, great grandparent or earlier ancestor) but do not self-identify as Hispanic, the vast majority – 81% – say they have never thought of themselves as Hispanic, according to a Pew Research Center survey of the group. When asked why this is the case, the single most common response was that their Hispanic ancestry is too far back or their background is mixed.

Immigration from Latin America played a central role in the U.S. Hispanic population’s 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. Over the same period, the Latino intermarriage rate remained relatively high and changed little. In 2015, 25.1% of Latino newlyweds married a non-Latino spouse and 18.3% of all married Latinos were intermarried.

Focusing on the Hispanic experience today, the Pew Research Center surveys asked respondents whether their Hispanic heritage has made a difference in their life. Overall, Hispanic heritage has had the greatest impact on the lives of second-generation Hispanics, half of whom (52%) say their Hispanic background has been an advantage in their lives. By contrast, just 28% of immigrant Hispanics and 24% of third or higher generation Hispanics say the same.

By contrast, just 11% of self-identified non-Hispanics say their Hispanic background has been mostly an advantage for them while 86% say it has not made a difference in their lives.

“It’s definitely an advantage being Hispanic,” says Hernandez. “I see many programs for Hispanics, including an awesome opportunity for a summer research internship at UC Berkeley.”

Hernandez says that she recently applied for the internship job, and that it is open only to Hispanics or African Americans.