differences between ethnic communities.

This serves to
reinforce the model minority myth and marginalizes the
Asian American real-life situations of Asian Americans in poverty.
Institute Fact Sheet:
Asian Americans and Facts and Figures
Poverty
A
closer look reveals contrasts and disparities
within Asian American communities . For
example, according to the 2000 Census,
Background Cambodians, Pakistanis, and Vietnamese Americans had
among the lowest per capita incomes in the city of Chicago:

A
sian Americans are one of the fastest growing
populations in the state of Illinois. While they are
Chicago Per Capita Income (1999)
often seen as a homogenous group, in actuality,
Asian Americans are an ethnically and socioeconomically Japanese 30,684
diverse community. According to 2007 Census estimates, White 29,174

they number over 617,000, representing 5% of the state’s Filipino 23,304

Asian Indian 21,262
population, an increase of 47% since 2000. In Illinois, this Total Chicago 20,175
diverse and often-overlooked community includes Taiw anese 20,133

Race/ Ethnicity
Americans of Bangladeshi, Cambodian, Chinese, Filipino, Thai 20,073
All Asian Americans 19,822
Hmong, Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Laotian,
Chinese 18,731
Nepali, Pakistani, Thai, Tibetan, and Vietnamese descent. Korean 17,983
American Indian 14,602
Asian Americans are African American 13,799
forgotten voices in relation to Vietnamese 13,354
Pakistani 11,816
poverty. Stories of successful
Hispanic 11,801
Asian Americans decorate the Cambodian 11,594
front pages, such as the 1987 whiz
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000
kid issue of Time, which
publicized data on Asian
Americans attending and In addition, the 2000 Census shows that Chicago’s Korean
graduating college. These American community has a poverty rate of 30%, the highest
mainstream depictions often rate of all racial and ethnic groups citywide:
stereotype Asian Americans as successful “model
minorities” who have achieved the American dream; Percentage of Population Below Poverty (1999)
however, these portrayals mask poverty issues and other
concerns within the Asian American community. Korean 30%
African American 29%

What is Poverty? Pakistani 29%

Taiw anese 25%
In 1969, the White House adopted an official
American Indian 22%
method to measure poverty in the U.S. This method is 21%
Vietnamese
based on the cheapest USDA meal plan, and assumes that
Race/ Ethnicity

Cambodian 20%
an average household spends 1/3 of their income on food. Total Chicago 20%
Currently, the poverty line is $21,386 for a family of 4 and Thai 19%

this measure is used to define poverty in all 50 states. Chinese 19%

Hispanic 19%
How accurate is this measure of poverty? It does Asian Indian 19%

not take into account that the standard of living varies Total Asian Americans 18%
Japanese 14%
regionally, and that Asian Americans tend to live in areas
White 11%
with higher cost-of-living rates; a uniform federal poverty
Filipino 7%
line ignores this factor. In addition, when poverty data are
0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35%
published, Asian Americans are usually included as a
homogeneous category that fails to consider socioeconomic
Community Issues and Needs From Invisibility to Action:
According to the 2000 Census, 70% of Asian
Americans in Chicago are immigrants or refugees. In What You Can Do
Chicago, 35% of Asian American households are

A
sian Americans in poverty face many barriers and
linguistically isolated, meaning that no one aged 14 or older struggles that often go unseen in the public eye.
speaks English very well. Thus interpretation and What can we do about this?
translation are critical services for this population.
One direct way to impact the community is to
Asian Americans are often stereotyped as participate in the upcoming April 2010 U.S. Census. Census
concentrating in the health sciences, yet access to data are used by governmental agencies, social service
affordable quality health care is a concern for a large organizations, health care providers, and others to
segment of this population. According to the 2001 determine how resources should be allocated and to whom.
Commonwealth Fund Health Care Quality Survey, 52% of Filling out the census form will help provide an accurate
Korean Americans and 32% of Vietnamese Americans count of Asian Americans, to identify community assets
nationwide had no health insurance, compared to just 15% and unmet needs.
of the total US population. In addition, the same study
found that Asian Americans were more likely to report Another way to get involved in the fight against
communication problems with their physicians, and less poverty is to educate the public on Asian Americans in
likely to receive cancer screenings. poverty. We welcome volunteers to assist us in reaching
out to community and professional groups and contacting
Though Asian Americans are commonly viewed as the media.
a highly educated group, when Asian American data are
disaggregated, clear disparities are found in educational To join the Asian American Institute in our
attainment, as illustrated by the following Census 2000 advocacy and education work, please contact:
data as analyzed by the Southeast Asia Resource Action
Center (SEARAC): Asian American Institute
4753 N. Broadway, Suite 904
Chicago, Illinois 60640
Percentage of Population Aged 25+ with Tel: 773-271-0899
Bachelor's Degree or higher AAI@aaichicago.org
www.aaichicago.org
Asian Indian 61
Chinese 47
Korean 43 Sources
All Asian American 43 U.S. Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov
Filipino 42
Japanese 40 Hughes, Dora L., M.D., Quality of Health Care for Asian
White 26 Americans, Findings from the 2001 Commonwealth Fund Health
Total US 24
Care Quality Survey, 2002: www.commonwealthfund.org.
Vietnamese 20
African American 14 Southeast Asia Resource Action Center: Southeast Asian American
Hispanic 10
Statistical Profile, 2004, www.searac.org.
Cambodian 9
Laotian 8
Hmong 7

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 AAI thanks 2008-09 AmeriCorps VISTA member Jennifer

Tsang for helping develop this fact sheet.

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