A Socioeconomic Profile of Dominicans in New York

The following data come from two studies done through the CUNY Dominican Studies Institute. Dominican New Yorkers: A Socioeconomic Profile, 1990 (Dominican Research Monographs. New York: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, 1995. Published in collaboration with the Institute for Urban and Minority Education (IUME) at Teachers College.) was prepared using data from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Census by sociologist Ramona Hernández of the University of Massachusetts, economist Francisco Rivera-Batiz of Columbia University, and doctoral candidate Roberto Agodini, of Teachers College. The researchers found that New York Dominicans lost economic ground through the 1980s. Dominican New Yorkers: A Socioeconomic Profile, 1997 (Dominican Research Monographs. New York: CUNY Dominican Studies Institute, 1997), by Ramona Hernández and Francisco Rivera-Batiz, updates the previous analysis with data from the 1995, 1996, and 1997 Current Population Surveys, a monthly study including a supplement of questions relating to household, demographic and labor force information. Though based on a smaller sample than the decennial Census, it is the most significant household survey carried out during the intercensal years. This study shows that the downward trend identified in the first study not just continued unabated but intensified in the 1990s. It documents that the collapse of economic activity in New York between 1989. and 1992 hit the Dominican community particularly hard, and that the "recovery" has largely evaded it, if not impacting it negatively. Neither study finds evidence that would support the notion that any highly profitable illegal activity, including drug trafficking, characterizes the typical Dominican New Yorker.


I. Dominican New Yorkers: A Socioeconomic Profile, 1990. (1995) The following findings summarize the study:

(1) The income of the Dominican population is one of the lowest in New York City: With a per-capita income of $6,336 in 1989, Dominican income was well below that of the average person in New York, whose income per-capita was on average $16,416 in 1989.

(2) Over 36 percent of the Dominican population in New York City lives in households which are under the poverty line; this is one of the highest poverty rates in the city, much higher than the overall poverty rate of 17.2 percent.

(3) Approximately 47 percent of Dominican children in New York in 1989 lived in households which are under the poverty line.

(4) The unemployment rate of Dominican women in the city was equal to 18.6 percent in 1990, and among men it was 16 percent; these figures are close to twice those of the overall population in New York.

(5) The earnings of Dominican men and women lagged substantially below those of the general population in New York. In 1989, the annual earnings of Dominican male workers was $15,088, which represents 52 percent of the earnings of the overall workforce in New York City that year; for Dominican women, the annual salary was equal to $11,347, which was not only significantly below that of Dominican men but also substantially below that of the overall female workforce in New York City, which had average annual earnings equal to $20,489.

(6) A major reason for the economic difficulties suffered by the Dominican population in New York City is related to its comparatively low educational attainment: in 1990. As much as 61.5 percent of Dominicans in New York who were 25 years of age or older had not completed high school and did not have a high school diploma or equivalent; this compares with only 29.6 percent for the overall New York City population. At the same time, only 6.1 percent of the Dominican population 25 years of age or older of New York City had completed college in 1990, compared to 24.7 percent for New Yorkers overall.

(7) The lower relative educational attainment of the Dominican population compared to other groups in New York City is associated with a higher proportion of the population in unskilled, blue-collar jobs: the proportion of the labor force employed as operators, laborers and fabricators was the highest in the City, equal to 30.9 percent i n 1990; by comparison, only 9.6 percent of the Dominican population was employed in executive and managerial jobs in 1990, compared to 13.9 percent for the overall Hispanic population, 19.6 percent for Blacks and 38.5 percent among Whites.

(8) The declining earnings and employment possibilities of unskilled workers in New York City --and generally in the nation-- have resulted in a deteriorating labor market situation for many Dominican workers: the earnings of Dominican workers without a high school diploma declined sharply in the 1980s, when adjusted for inflation.

(9) There is a second phenomenon which has also impacted the Dominican population more than others. During the 1970s and 1980s, the number of manufacturing jobs in New York City declined sharply, as the economy restructured from manufacturing to services. Similarly, the retail and wholesale trade sector contracted during the last two decades. The Dominican population has by far the highest proportion of persons employed in manufacturing in New York City. In 1990, a total of 25.7 percent of the Dominican labor force was employed in manufacturing, which compares to 10.9. percentage among non-Hispanic Whites, and 8.2 percent for non-Hispanic Blacks. In addition, of all groups in the population, Dominicans had the highest share of their labor force employed in the trade sector in 1990. A total of 27.6 percent of the Dominican labor force in 1990 was in the trade sector, compared to 17.9 percent for whites and 14.1 percent for Blacks.

(10) Despite the high proportion of Dominicans employed in the manufacturing sector in 1990, the 1980s resulted in a deep shift of employment out of manufacturing for Dominicans. The proportion of the Dominican labor force employed in manufacturing dropped from 48.6 percent in 1980 to 25.7 percent in 1990. For workers who were employed in manufacturing in 1990, and moved to other sectors by 1990, the transition was likely to be associated with unemployment. In fact, the comparatively high unemployment rate among Dominican workers may be associated with the decline of manufacturing as an industry of employment. This may apply especially among women: over one-third of Dominican women in the labor force were employed in manufacturing in 1990, as compared to less than one-fifth among men.

(11) The proportion of Dominicans in the labor force who were self-employed in 1990 was equal to 7 percent, which is below the rate of self-employment of the overall labor force in New York City, equal to 8.9 percent in 1990, and much below the self-employment for the White population, which was 12 percent. The 1990 Census data is thus inconsistent with the view in some circles that the Dominican population in New York City has been thriving economically through the presence of a disproportionately high rate of business creation and self-employment relative to other ethnic and racial groups.

(12) Dominicans are underrepresented in the New York City public sector labor force. Indeed, although the Dominican population accounts for approximately 5 percent of the population of New York City, only 2 percent of the public sector labor force in 1990 was composed of Dominicans. A total of 9.8 percent of Dominicans in the labor force were employed in the public sector, compared to 17.2 percent in the overall New York City labor force. This underrepresentation in the public sector should be a matter of concern among policymakers in the City.

In spite of an adverse economic environment, the Dominican population in New York City made some economic advances in the 1980s. Per-capita income increased and overall earnings rose also, especially for the population with college degrees. Educational attainment improved, with the proportion of persons 25 years of age or older without a high school diploma dropping from 72 percent to 61.5 percent, although this improvement was not evenly distributed among the population, being closely linked to the greater schooling of Dominican immigrants. As noted earlier, the main conclusion of this study is that the key socioeconomic indicators failed to improve over the last decade for the Dominican population in New York. Unemployment increased, poverty rates failed to drop, the proportion of children in poor households did not decline, and the relatively unskilled population fared worse in 1990 than in 1980.


II Dominican New Yorkers: A Socioeconomic Profile, 1997 (1997) The following findings summarize the study:

(1) The Dominican population in New York City rose from 332,713 in 1990 to 495,000 in 1997, making it the second-largest Hispanic group in the City, after Puerto Ricans.

(2) Dominican children now constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in New York City public schools. It is estimated that as many as 104,000 Dominican children were enrolled in New York City public schools during the 1995-96 school year, close to 1 0% of the total enrollment in the system.

(3) Despite encountering a difficult learning environment, in overcrowded schools, most Dominican children are highly motivated. In a survey of students in New York City public schools, 69.4 percent of Dominican children responded that their classes were "very interesting," but only 49 percent of non-Dominican students found their classes livery interesting." In addition, Dominican students (93 percent of the total) see schooling as a means for economic improvement.

(4) Close to 60 percent of all Dominicans in the U.S. resided in New York City in 1997. However, a growing share of the Dominican population is choosing to live outside New York.

(5) Growth of Dominicans in the United States has been fueled by immigration. Of the 832,000 Dominicans in the U.S. in 1997, close to 70 percent were immigrants.

(6) The income of the Dominican population is one of the lowest in New York City: With a per-capita income of $6,094 in 1996, Dominican income was well below that of the average person in New York, whose income per-capita was on average $19,043 in 1996.

(7) Over 45 percent of the Dominican population in New York City lives in households which are under the poverty line; this is one of the highest poverty rates in the city, much higher than the overall poverty rate of 23.8 percent.

(8) The unemployment rate of Dominican men and women in New York City was approximately 18 percent in 1996; these figures are more than twice those for the overall population in New York, whose unemployment rate hovered between 8 and 9 percent in 1996.

(9) The earnings of Dominican men and women lagged substantially below those of the general population in New York. In 1996, the annual earnings of Dominican male workers was $15,495, which is less than half the average earnings for the overall workforce in New York City that year; for Dominican women, the annual salary was equal to $13,250, which was not only significantly below that of Dominican men but also substantially below that of the overall female workforce in New York City, which had average annual earnings equal to $26,294.

(10) A major reason for the economic difficulties suffered by the Dominican population in New York City is related to its comparatively low educational attainment: in 1997, as much as 54.7 percent of Dominicans in New York who were 25 years of age or older had not completed high school and did not have a high school diploma or equivalent; this compares with only 24.1 percent for the overall New York City population. At the same time, only 4.0 percent of the Dominican population 25 years of age or older of New York City had completed college in 1997, compared to 26.8 percent for New Yorkers overall.

(11) The lower relative educational attainment of the Dominican population compared to other groups in New York City is associated with a higher proportion of the population in unskilled, blue-collar jobs: the proportion of the labor force employed as operators, laborers and fabricators was the highest in the city, equal to 36.1 percent in 1997; by comparison, only 8.4 percent of the Dominican population was employed in executive and managerial jobs in 1997, compared to 3 0.2 percent for the overall population of New York.

(12)The declining earnings and employment possibilities of unskilled workers in New York City in the 1990s have resulted in a deteriorating labor market situation for many Dominican workers: the earnings of New Yorkers without a high school diploma declined sharply in the 1990s, when adjusted for inflation.

(13) A second phenomenon which has impacted the Dominican population more than others during the 1990s is the sharp decline in the number of manufacturing jobs in New York City, as the economy restructured from manufacturing to services. The Dominican population has by far the highest proportion of persons employed in manufacturing in New York City. In 1990, a total of 25.7 percent of the Dominican labor force was employed in manufacturing, which compares to 10.9 percent among non-Hispanic Whites, and 8.2 percent for non- Hispanic Blacks. As a result, Dominicans were disproportionately impacted by the 1989-1993 recession, one of the most severe affecting New York this century.

(14) The proportion of Dominicans in the labor force who were self-employed in 1990 was equal to 7 percent, which is below the rate of self-employment of the overall labor force in New York City, equal to 8.9 percent in 1990, and much below the self-employment for the white population, which was 12 percent. The 1990 Census data is thus inconsistent with the view in some circles that the Dominican population in New York City has been thriving economically through the presence of a disproportionately high rate of business creation and self-employment relative to other ethnic and racial groups.

(15) Dominicans are underrepresented in the New York City public sector labor force. Indeed, although the Dominican population accounted for approximately 5 percent of the population of New York City in 1990, only 2 percent of the public sector labor force in 1990 was composed of Dominicans. A total of 9.8 percent of Dominicans in the labor force were employed in the public sector, compared to 17.2 percent in the overall New York City labor force. This underrepresentation in the public sector should be a matter of concern among policymakers in the city.