For many Latinos, the United States offers a chance at a better life than the place their Latino ancestors came from in several ways. A strong majority say the U.S. provides more opportunities to get ahead than their ancestors’ place of origin. Majorities also say the U.S. has better conditions for raising kids, access to health care and treatment of the poor, according to a Pew Research Center national survey of 3,375 Latino adults conducted in March 2021.

Hispanics hold these positive views of the U.S. whether they were born in Puerto Rico, in another country, or in the 50 states or the District of Columbia.

However, Latinos do not see the U.S. as better on all measures. About half of Latino adults (48%) see family ties as better in the origin place of their ancestors (Puerto Rico or another country) than in the United States. About another quarter (27%) say the strength of family ties is about the same in both places, while 22% say family ties are better in the U.S.

Hispanics are split on whether the U.S. or the origin place of their Hispanic ancestors treats immigrants better. About one-third (34%) say immigrants are treated better in the U.S., while 38% say there is no difference between the treatment of immigrants in the U.S. and their treatment in Puerto Rico or another country. Another quarter (25%) of Hispanics say immigrants are treated better in the place of their Hispanic ancestors.

Hispanics hold similar views about the treatment of immigrants whether they are U.S. born or not. However, views vary depending on how long those born in Puerto Rico or another country have lived in the 50 states or the District of Columbia. For example, among those who arrived in the last 10 years, 33% say immigrants are treated better in the place of their birth than in the U.S., a greater share than the 24% who say the opposite. On the other hand, nearly four-in-ten (39%) of those who arrived more than 20 years ago say immigrants are treated better in the U.S. Views also vary depending on legal status among those born in another country – roughly half (51%) of Hispanic immigrants who are neither U.S. citizens nor hold a green card (and are likely in the country without authorization) say the treatment of immigrants is about the same in the U.S. as in their place of ancestry.

Among U.S.-born Latinos, three-in-ten second-generation Latinos – the U.S.-born children of immigrants or Puerto Rico-born parents – say immigrants are treated better in Puerto Rico or  the birth country of their parents. By comparison, 16% of third or higher-generation Latinos say the same.

The survey also asked Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country about discrimination based on race or skin color in the U.S. and their place of origin. Four-in-ten (40%) say there is no difference on this measure between the U.S. and their place of origin. Another 26% indicate discrimination based on race and skin color is not an issue in the place of their birth. However, some Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country see differences between their place of origin and the U.S. – 17% say this type of discrimination is better in their place of origin than in the U.S., while 15% say it is worse.

Despite these mixed views about life in the U.S., most Latinos born in either Puerto Rico or another country (84%) say that if they had to make the choice again, they would migrate to the U.S. Mostly similar shares also say so across immigrant groups by legal status, including 78% of those who are not U.S. citizens and do not have a green card.

Much smaller shares of Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country say they would not come to the U.S. again. Some 8% say they would stay where they were born, and another 7% say they would migrate to someplace other than the U.S. Among Hispanic immigrants who do not hold U.S. citizenship or a green card, a group likely in the country without authorization, 13% say they would stay in their home country if they had to do it again.

Latinos born in another country were also asked whether they had considered leaving the United States since the start of the coronavirus outbreak in February 2020. About nine-in-ten Latino immigrants (88%) say they have not considered this. Meanwhile, 5% say they did consider returning to their home country and 4% thought about leaving the U.S. for another country.

The arrival of millions of immigrants from Latin America over the past half century, and an ongoing migration from Puerto Rico, continues to shape the demographics of the U.S. Hispanic population. In 2019, 19.8 million Hispanics living in the U.S. were born in another country, accounting for one-third (33%) of the U.S. Hispanic population. The share of Hispanics born in another country rises to 45% among Hispanics ages 18 and older, according to Pew Research Center tabulations of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. In addition, 1.9 million people born in Puerto Rico were living in the 50 states or the District of Columbia in 2019, making up 3% of all Hispanics and 4% of Hispanic adults.

Since 1965, people from Latin America have accounted for about half of the 59 million immigrants who have come to the United States from around the world. In 2019, Hispanic immigrants living in the U.S. made up 44% of the nation’s 44.7 million immigrants. A quarter of the U.S. immigrant population, or 11.4 million, is from Mexico alone, far more than any other country. And over the past decade, growing numbers of immigrants have arrived from countries like Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. More recently, many immigrants from Central America and elsewhere have arrived seeking asylum, with border crossings reaching half-decade highs in the past year.

Hispanics say the opportunity to get ahead is better in the U.S. than in place of ancestry

About eight-in-ten U.S.-born Hispanics (79%) say the opportunity to get ahead is better in the U.S. than in their ancestors’ place of origin, with large majorities across generations saying so. The share rises to 87% among Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country.

Among the U.S. born, 85% of second-generation Hispanics say the U.S. provides better opportunities than Puerto Rico or their ancestors’ home country, a similar share to Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country. Meanwhile, third- or higher-generation Hispanics are less likely than other groups to say opportunity is better in the U.S. than in the origin place of their ancestors. Even so, nearly three-quarters (72%) hold this view.

Latinos see U.S. as better for raising kids than origin place of ancestors

About three-quarters of Latino adults (76%) say the U.S. has better conditions for raising children than the origin place of their ancestors. Another 14% say conditions are about the same, and about one-in-ten (9%) say conditions are better in their place of ancestry. Latinos share this view regardless of birthplace or immigrant generation.

A majority of Hispanics say access to health care is better in the U.S. than in their family’s place of ancestry

Over two-thirds of U.S. Hispanic adults (69%) say access to health care services is better in the U.S. than in the origin place of their ancestors. Meanwhile, about one-in-ten (12%) say access to health care services is better in the place of their family’s ancestry than in the U.S., while 17% say that access is about the same in both places.

A majority of Latinos share this view no matter their nativity. Some 71% of Latinos born in Puerto Rico or another country say health care access is better in the U.S. than in the place of their ancestry, while 67% of U.S.-born Latinos say the same. Views vary only slightly across generations. A higher share of second-generation Latinos than third- or higher-generation Latinos say that access to health care is better in the U.S. (70% vs. 64%).

Regardless of when they arrived, a majority of Hispanics who came from Puerto Rico or another country says the U.S. is better for access to health care. However, only 56% of those who arrived 10 years ago or less say this, compared with 76% of those who arrived over 20 years ago. About a quarter (26%) of more recent arrivals, 10 years or less, say health care is better in their origin place. This view is shared by only 9% of those who arrived over 20 years ago and 16% of those who arrived between 11 and 20 years ago.

These findings come amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a large personal and health impact on the lives of U.S. Hispanics.

Among Latinos, those born in Puerto Rico or another country are more likely than the U.S. born to say the poor are treated better in the U.S.

More than half of all Hispanic adults (56%) say treatment of the poor is better in the U.S. than their family’s place of ancestry, while 30% say it is about the same and 12% say it is better in Puerto Rico or in the country of their ancestors.

Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say treatment of the poor is better in the U.S. than in the place of their ancestors (61% vs. 50%).

Hispanics say strength of family ties is better in ancestors’ place of origin than in U.S.

Nearly half (48%) of U.S. Hispanics say the strength of family ties is better in their family’s place of ancestry than in the U.S. Large shares of both Hispanics born in Puerto Rico or another country and Hispanics born in the 50 states or D.C. hold this view, though those born in Puerto Rico or another country are more likely to do so (54% vs. 42%).

Notably, only 28% of third- or higher-generation Hispanics say family ties are better in the origin place of their ancestors than in the U.S., significantly less than the share of second-generation Hispanics and Hispanics born in another country or Puerto Rico who say the same (52% and 54% respectively).

This report was written by Mark Hugo Lopez, Director of Race and Ethnicity Research and Mohamad Moslimani, Research Assistant. Editorial guidance was provided by Jens Manuel Krogstad, Senior Writer/Editor, Ana Gonzalez-Barrera, Senior Researcher, and Luis Noe-Bustamante, Research Analyst.

The report was number checked by Lauren Mora, Research Assistant. Shannon Greenwood produced the report. David Kent copy edited the report. Charts were designed by Moslimani and Lopez.

Find related reports online at https://alpha.pewresearch.org/pewresearch-org/topic/race-ethnicity/.

The American Trends Panel survey methodology

Overview

The American Trends Panel (ATP), created by Pew Research Center, is a nationally representative panel of randomly selected U.S. adults. Panelists participate via self-administered web surveys. Panelists who do not have internet access at home are provided with a tablet and wireless internet connection. Interviews are conducted in both English and Spanish. The panel is being managed by Ipsos.

Data in this report is drawn from the panel wave conducted March 15 to March 28, 2021, among self-identified Hispanics from the ATP and Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel. A total of 3,375 panelists responded out of 9,951 who were sampled, for a response rate of 50% (AAPOR RR3). This includes 1,900 from the ATP and 1,475 respondents from the KnowledgePanel.  This does not include four panelists who were removed from the data due to extremely high rates of refusal or straightlining. The cumulative response rate accounting for nonresponse to the recruitment surveys and attrition is 1%. The break-off rate among panelists who logged on to the survey and completed at least one item is 4%. The margin of sampling error for the full sample of 3,375 respondents is plus or minus 2.8 percentage points.

Panel recruitment

The ATP was created in 2014, with the first cohort of panelists invited to join the panel at the end of a large, national, landline and cellphone random-digit-dial survey that was conducted in both English and Spanish. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2015 and 2017, respectively. Across these three surveys, a total of 19,718 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 9,942 (50%) agreed to participate.

In August 2018, the ATP switched from telephone to address-based recruitment. Invitations were sent to a random, address-based sample of households selected from the U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File. Two additional recruitments were conducted using the same method in 2019 and 2020, respectively. Across these three address-based recruitments, a total of 17,161 adults were invited to join the ATP, of whom 15,134 (88%) agreed to join the panel and completed an initial profile survey. In each household, the adult with the next birthday was asked to go online to complete a survey, at the end of which they were invited to join the panel. Of the 25,076 individuals who have ever joined the ATP, 13,538 remained active panelists and continued to receive survey invitations at the time this survey was conducted.

The U.S. Postal Service’s Delivery Sequence File has been estimated to cover as much as 98% of the population, although some studies suggest that the coverage could be in the low 90% range.¹ The American Trends Panel never uses breakout routers or chains that direct respondents to additional surveys.

About the Ipsos KnowledgePanel

The Ipsos KnowledgePanel is an online probability-based panel representative of the U.S. adult population. Households without internet connection are provided with a web-enabled device and free internet service. KnowledgePanel’s recruitment process was originally based on a national RDD sampling methodology. In 2009, the panel switched to using an ABS methodology. Additional information about the recruitment, sampling and weighting procedures for the Ipsos KnowledgePanel are available here.

Sample design

The overall target population for this survey was non-institutionalized self-identifying people of Hispanic origin ages 18 and older, living in the U.S., including Alaska and Hawaii. The ATP sample consisted of all current panel members that previously identified as being Hispanic. The KnowledgePanel sample included oversamples of Hispanics who were of Mexican or Central American ancestry or had no more than a high school education.

Questionnaire development and testing

The questionnaire was developed by Pew Research Center in consultation with Ipsos. The web program was rigorously tested on both PC and mobile devices by the Ipsos project management team and Pew Research Center researchers. The Ipsos project management team also populated test data which was analyzed in SPSS to ensure the logic and randomizations were working as intended before launching the survey.

Incentives

All respondents were offered a post-paid incentive for their participation. ATP respondents could choose to receive the post-paid incentive in the form of a check or a gift code to Amazon.com or could choose to decline the incentive. Incentive amounts ranged from $10 to $20 depending on whether the respondent belongs to a part of the population that is harder or easier to reach. Differential incentive amounts were designed to increase panel survey participation among groups that traditionally have low survey response propensities.

Ipsos operates an ongoing modest incentive program for KnowledgePanel to encourage participation and create member loyalty. The incentive program includes special raffles and sweepstakes with both cash rewards and other prizes to be won.  Typically, panel members are assigned no more than one survey per week. On average, panel members complete two to three surveys per month with durations of 10 to 15 minutes per survey. An additional incentive is usually provided for longer surveys. For this survey, KnowledgePanel members were offered 10,000 points (equivalent to $10) in addition to the regular incentive program during the last few days of data collection to those who hadn’t responded yet in an attempt to boost the number of responses from panel members of Central American ancestry.

Data collection protocol

The data collection field period for this survey was March 15 to March 28, 2021. Postcard notifications were mailed to all ATP panelists with a known residential address on March 15. 

On March 15 and March 16, invitations were sent out in two separate launches: Soft Launch and Full Launch. Sixty ATP panelists and 182 KP panelists were included in the soft launch, which began with an initial invitation sent on March 15. The ATP panelists chosen for the initial soft launch were known responders who had completed previous ATP surveys within one day of receiving their invitation. All remaining English- and Spanish-speaking panelists were included in the full launch and were sent an invitation on March 16.

All panelists with an email address received an email invitation and up to four email reminders if they did not respond to the survey. All ATP panelists that consented to SMS messages received an SMS invitation and up to four SMS reminders.

Data quality checks

To ensure high-quality data, the Center’s researchers performed data quality checks to identify any respondents showing clear patterns of satisficing. This includes checking for very high rates of leaving questions blank, as well as always selecting the first or last answer presented. As a result of this checking, two ATP and two KP respondents were removed from the survey dataset prior to weighting and analysis.

Weighting

The data was weighted in a multistep process that accounts for multiple stages of sampling and nonresponse that occur at different points in the survey process. First, each respondent begins with a base weight that reflects their probability of selection for their initial recruitment survey. For the KnowledgePanel respondents, the base weight also reflects their probability of being selected to participate in this survey. To combine the base weights for the ATP and KnowledgePanel, respondents were grouped into one of six cells depending on whether they had no more than a high school education and whether they were of Mexican, Central American or another Hispanic ancestry. The base weights for ATP and KnowledgePanel respondents were then standardized proportionately to their effective sample size within each cell and combined. This combined base weight was then poststratified so that the combined sample in each cell matched its share of the larger population of Hispanic adults.

In the final weighting step, the combined weights were calibrated to match the population benchmarks specified in the accompanying table and trimmed at 1st and 99th percentiles to reduce the loss in precision stemming from variance in the weights. Sampling errors and test of statistical significance take into account the effect of weighting.

The following table shows the unweighted sample sizes and the error attributable to sampling that would be expected at the 95% level of confidence for different groups in the survey.

Sample sizes and sampling errors for other subgroups are available upon request. In addition to sampling error, one should bear in mind that question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of opinion polls.

Dispositions and response rates