Hispanic Families’ Utilization of Social Benefits: A Regional Analysis

Abstract

The connection between race and social benefits is so strong that many times the issue of social benefits is seen as a racial versus a social issue. I hypothesize that Hispanic families in new destination locations which are located in the Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States will receive social benefits at a lower rate when compared to Hispanics that live in established immigrant locations which are located in the Northeastern and Western regions of the United States. I conclude, based on a historical analysis, that the lower uptake rate of Hispanics living in Southern and Midwestern regions is due to the particularly racial history of these regions as well as due to the racial and political ideology of those regions. To test my hypothesis, I conducted a logistic regression analysis using data that was collected by the National Survey of Early Care and Education (NSECE) which is composed of four integrated, nationally representative surveys conducted in 2012. The logistic regression analysis of uptake rake by region reveals that being in the South or Midwest lowers a family’s uptake rate of social benefits. This result is significant because it indicates that the hypothesis proposed in this analysis is correct and can allow for future analysis in how to increase equity among Hispanics living in different regions of the United States.