Latino Youth, Mobility Affecting Generational Politics

Here’s a different way to look at how Latinos are affecting business as usual in the United States. It comes from a report in the Seattle Post Intelligencer: because Latinos are younger and more mobile, and because young Latinos are moving South and West and older non-Latinos are not moving anywhere,

…the age gap between regions in the U.S. has grown to its widest level in decades, sharpening the divides on hot-button issues such as immigration and changes to Medicare.

All those low-Latino population regions are also high-voting areas.

The Census data shows

a median-age jump of 2.5 years or more over the last decade for states including New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Ohio and Connecticut where there are fewer immigrants.”The census numbers show that we are really splitting apart between regions that are gaining younger people and families with children and those that are getting older and where traditional families are becoming scarce,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at Brookings Institution.

Of course, the widening age gap has as much to do with the aging baby-boomers and how they’re staying put as it does with young, mobile Latinos. This is how it’s working out:

• The median age for the western U.S. (California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado) last year was 35.1
• The Northeast was 39
• The Midwest was 37.5
  
• The South’s median age was 36.4

In places across the Midwest, where the population is older and those older people vote, there is a strong potential for generational politics.

Latino issues and concerns could run afoul of the politics of an aging and voting population that is more concerned with Medicare and tax cuts than education spending.

“There’s a reason politicians don’t run around talking that much these days about the cost of college loans or education, which affect younger people,” (Leonard Steinhorn, an American University professor and author of “The Greater Generation: In Defense of the Baby Boom Legacy) said. “The problem is when you have limited resources, you end up with the potential to pit one generation against the next.”

This becomes especially relevant when you consider low Latino voter registration and participation. It’s going to have an important impact on issues like immigration, education and entitlements such as Medicare. With a tight budget and growing deficits there’s only so much money to spend and the concerns of an older, voting population will be prioritized.

Follow Victor Landa on Twitter: @vlanda

[Photo by linder6580]