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In 2023, there were more than 9.5 million Latino homeowners in the United States, according to a report by the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals®. In other words, about half of Latinos in the U.S. own their homes. In Chicago, that figure stood at around 43% in 2017, nonprofit Prosperity Now reported. READ MORE AT AUSTIN WEEKLY NEWS

A new report examining Latino wealth in six U.S. states shows that New York — where Puerto Ricans and Dominicans make up the largest Latino ethnic groups — has the highest wealth disparities between Latino and white households. 

The Brookings Metro report shows that white households in New York hold 40 times the wealth of Latino households. That’s a stark contrast to Illinois — home to the smallest Latino-white wealth gap — where white households hold 1.9 times the wealth of Latino households. READ MORE AT LOS ANGELES

The COVID-19 pandemic significantly increased interest in wearable health-monitoring devices among low-income Hispanic and Latine adults living in the U.S., a new Northwestern University study has found. The study was published today (May 8) in the Journal of Medical Internet Research. While the pandemic highlighted the need for regular health monitoring, these groups often lack access to affordable health care and sometimes distrust existing health systems. Wearables, therefore, could provide a reliable, at-home alternative to traditional in-clinic health monitoring.

But, although interest has increased, several barriers remain that prevent these groups from adopting wearable technologies. According to the researchers, tech companies historically have designed current wearable devices with affluent, predominantly white users in mind. READ MORE AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY NEWS

Latinos are making their mark in Houston and across the nation economically, according to the latest Metro Latino GDP Report. As of 2021, the Houston metro area is the second largest metropolitan statistical area in Texas. It’s also the fourth largest MSA in the nation by Latino population.

$581 billion - The Texas Latino GDP for 2021 matches the economic output of Michigan.

2.7 times - The Texas Latino GDP grew 2.7 times faster than the Non-Latino GDP from 2018 to 2021.

28.7 percent - Texas’ Latino population saw a growth of 28.7 percent from 2010 to 2021, compared to 12.9 percent for non-Latinos. READ MORE AT CLICK2HOUSTON

The first Hispanic American-owned banks in the mainland U.S. were established in the 1960s, one of the first being Centinel Bank of Taos. Hispanic American financial institutions were created to provide services to low-income and minority communities, particularly Hispanic American communities. Historically, Hispanic Americans have been affected by discriminatory lending practices like redlining and experienced limited economic opportunities to build wealth. READ MORE AT BUSINESS INSIDER

Latino college students are more likely to be first-generation students and less likely to leave college having earned their degrees, according to a new report from Excelencia in Education. Of the Latino students in U.S. colleges and universities, those of Mexican or Chicano descent constitute almost half (49%) of the population. Meanwhile, students of other Hispanic backgrounds made up 27%; those of Puerto Rican descent made up 12%, and those of Cuban descent 2%. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION

Latino-owned businesses are a dynamic and growing portion of the U.S.; with more than 5 million firms driving $800 billion in revenue, they represent a huge opportunity for the U.S. In fact, the number of Latino-owned businesses is growing 10x faster than white-owned businesses. READ MORE AT LATINO BUSINESS ACTION NETWORK

Half of Hispanic adults (50%) reported being very worried about having enough money for retirement, six percentage points higher than the response from the general population, according to LIMRA’s 2023 Insurance Barometer Study, but the owner of a Hispanic-run financial wellness platform says focused engagement with the Latino audience can help.

Approaching 70 million people, or nearly 20% of the U.S. population, Latinos present a significant opportunity for every sector, according to Finhabits’ 2023 “Power in Numbers” report. Yet efforts to capitalize on the wealth potential of this segment, which by the firm’s estimates will grow to $113 trillion by 2050, have so far fallen short. READ MORE AT PLAN ADVISER

The recently released 2023 Hispanic Wealth Report showed that more Latinos are making money, owning homes, and building generational wealth for their families. According to the report, 49.5% of the Hispanic population in the United States are now homeowners. That's on track to have 70% of all Latinos be homeowners by 2040. READ MORE AT WFTS TAMPA BAY

For Hispanic-Latinos, the drive to become financially successful isn’t just about accumulating wealth — rather, it’s driven by a strong feeling of responsibility to support our families and the Hispanic-Latino community. In A Merrill survey. 

Affluent Hispanic-Latinos in the Merrill survey were also four times more likely than the affluent general population to say that planning to assist aging parents financially is their most important financial goal. READ MORE AT ML.COM

Latino enrollment in higher education institutions has been growing with the Hispanic population, and Latinos have made substantial strides in earning college degrees. But the elimination of DEI programs is occurring as Latinos' degree-earning is still failing to keep pace with that of white students. READ MORE AT NBC NEWS

US Latinos account for 24 percent of box office ticket sales and 24 percent of streaming subscribers.3 To put this into even sharper contrast, US Latinos see films 3.3 times a year, per capita, compared with 2.9 for Asian-Americans and 2.3 for White Americans.

Yet Latinos hold less than 5 percent of leading on-screen, off-screen, and executive leadership roles in US media. Half of large media companies’ boardrooms include no Latino representation, and overall there is limited progress toward parity. As a result, the many facets of the Latino identity, from the United States and around the world, continue to be unseen or misrepresented on screens. READ MORE AT MCKINSEY & CO

From Women's History Month to global International Women's Day celebrations, March is a time to champion the power of women's voices and drive positive change. As you make your plans to celebrate International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, here are four ways to access inspiring content from the past and even find new voices. READ MORE AT GOOGLE VOICES

Hispanic Americans currently make up nearly one-fifth of the American population, according to 2022 Census data, and they are the largest racial or ethnic minority group in the country. They have also become a powerful force in the economy, having contributed an estimated $3.2 trillion of economic output in 2021, according to a report last month by the Latino Donor Collaborative — which would give them the fifth-largest GDP in the world if they were grouped as an individual nation. READ MORE AT FINANCIAL PLANNING

In October 2023, the U.S. Department of the Treasury reported that roughly 5 million Latinx-owned businesses operated nationwide. These companies generate over $800 billion in annual revenue with an economic output of $2.8 trillion. 

That report also revealed that this share is growing. In 2021, almost 25 percent of the entrepreneurs behind new business applications were Latinx. And between 2019 and 2023, the share of self-employed Latinx workers across the country grew by 26 percent. READ MORE AT BANKRATE

few years back, my siblings and I began what would turn out to be a long, somewhat arduous conversation: What’s going to happen with Mom? Our mom was getting older, and we needed to start thinking about what her golden years would look like, considering the possibilities that could come with caring for an elderly parent. The entire exercise, thus far, has led to arguments and a sense of straying further from the light. READ MORE AT THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

At the beginning of the CTA’s Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One project, the transit agency set robust hiring and workforce goals to ensure that this transformational project – the largest capital investment project in CTA history – didn’t further contribute to the low numbers of Black individuals seeking and thriving in careers in construction. 

CTA has dedicated a team – CTA Diversity Programs – that works with various organizations to provide opportunities to small and diverse businesses. Since the beginning of the RPM project back in 2019, the CTA Diversity Programs team worked with RPM contractor Walsh-Fluor Design-Build Team to develop Small Business Enterprise (SBE) and Diverse Business Enterprise (DBE) goals specifically for contractors working on RPM Phase One, as well as robust workforce goals to ensure that Chicago’s communities benefit from this historic investment. To date, DBE goals are being met, exceeding the percentage goal of 20% and $314M awarded in DBE contracts. Furthermore, the 19.6% minority workforce goal has been dramatically exceeded with 52.7% of the hired workforce identifying as a minority and $47.4M paid in wages among those laborers. 

• Adrian Mobley, an Englewood native, is the owner of Air & Wellness Safety Training, an MBE-, WBE- and DBE-certified health and safety consulting firm based on Chicago’s South Side. Through RPM’s diversity efforts, Adrian received financial guidance and resources, leading her to bid on and be awarded flagging services on the project. Since her contract began, she has hired more than 25 full-time employees and is growing the business to one day pass down to her daughters, who also work on the RPM project. 
• Pierre Starks, a Chicago native, is a Local 1 Union iron worker who went from apprentice to journeyman while working on RPM. Since working on the project, Pierre has been able to save money to buy a home for his family that has a backyard for his two sons.

To learn more about CTA’s diversity efforts, please visit transitchicago.com/diversity-programs.

U.S. Latinos are key when it comes the nation’s engineering and technology workforce, according to a new joint report from the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) and the Latino Donor Collaborative (LDC). According to the report, the economic contributions the Latino community makes to the U.S. are immense. The contributions are significant enough that if the national Latino population were its own country, it would have the fifth-largest GDP in the world, $3.2 trillion, despite comprising only 19.1% of the U.S. population. READ MORE AT DIVERSE EDUCATION

Hispanic American financial institutions were created to provide services to low-income and minority communities, particularly Hispanic American communities. Historically, Hispanic Americans have been affected by discriminatory lending practices like redlining and experienced limited economic opportunities to build wealth.

Hispanic American banks were founded in areas where minority communities lived. These financial institutions were able to connect with their local communities and fill the banking gap by addressing areas like language and culture. READ MORE AT PERSONAL FINANCE

Millions of patients are not getting the quality care they deserve from doctors who look like them and speak their language. Research has shown that newly trained physicians of color answer the call to return to their communities and provide culturally competent care that results in improved patient outcomes.

At the same time, the Latino community needs increased representation for Latino physicians in leadership positions on college campuses and in hospitals. We must act and hold educational and health care organizations accountable for the sake of our patients. READ MORE AT CAL MATTERS