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by Gabriel Acevedo (Author)
Many are asking, where do the millions of Latino immigrants fit within the American mosaic? Unfortunately, the lives of Latinos in America are often discussed in anecdotal terms, with little factual information or helpful insight. To find out what their lives are like, we have to ask them. That's why this report draws from one of the largest representative samples of this growing population, the Relationships in America Survey (RIA). We study data from this survey to seek to understand the beliefs, experiences, and lifestyle choices that truly characterize Latinos in America. The quality and richness of the survey data allow for an evidence-based approach that moves beyond the caricatures to honestly enlighten while opening up avenues of future discussion and debate.Commissioned by the Austin Institute for the Study of Family and Culture, the RIA examined the family composition, beliefs, experiences, and behaviors reported by U.S. residents in January and February 2014. The target population was noninstitutionalized adults aged 18-60, and 15,738 surveys were completed (62 percent). Surveys were conducted in English or Spanish, based on the respondent's preference. In the RIA, we often sort respondents by race/ethnicity in order to offer comparisons of their views, and we focus in particular on the experiences of Latinos. The goal is to discover their core beliefs, their lived experiences, and the facts about their makeup as a group.First, using data from the much larger 2010 U.S. Census report, we present a brief demographic profile of U.S. Latinos. We then move to using our more recent data to consider their political attitudes. The RIA survey asked questions about voter preference, satisfaction with the political system, and even basic knowledge of U.S. history and the Constitution. Then we turn to questions about economic issues, exploring whether respondents are more apt to agree with liberal or conservative fiscal policies.We follow this with a discussion of religion and religious beliefs before concluding with an evaluation of family dynamics, practices, and attitudes. For this, we asked questions related to early life experiences and the quality of respondents' relationships with their parents during childhood and adolescence, as well as how Latinos view traditional family roles and the importance they attribute to key dimensions of family life. We also asked the hard political questions about abortion, same-sex marriage, and the definition of "family."
