Hispanic-White Progress Report Cards, 2000-2020

Continuing with our release of Black-White Progress Report Cards 1970-2020 in June 2023 as part of the Othering & Belonging Institute’s Racial Disparities Dashboard Project, we now release the Hispanic-White Progress Report Cards 2000-2020. These Report Cards allow users to track disparity changes and grading within the United States from 2000 to 2020 across 15 different important variables between Hispanic and white1 Americans:

Since 1990, the Hispanic population in the United States has increased substantially, making it possible to meaningfully examine Hispanic–white disparities. However, many key variables were not consistently collected through national surveys until around 2000. As a result, this analysis focuses on changes in outcomes for Hispanic and white populations—and the disparities between them—across 15 key areas from 2000 to 2020. Over this period, we observe meaningful reductions in disparities in areas such as median home value,2 median family net wealth,3 and unemployment rates. At the same time, disparities in bachelor’s degree attainment rates, voting rates, life expectancy,4 and infant mortality rates5 have widened. A complete and nuanced portrait of race in American life requires an understanding and awareness of the range of these outcomes. As you click on each variable, you can quickly assess whether disparities are narrowing or widening, while also observing absolute progress—or regression—for each racial group.

Progress Grading Report Card: 

The Progress Report Grade is based upon four components: the change in the absolute and relative magnitude of the disparity, and the absolute and relative progress toward closing the disparity. The direction and strength of these inputs determines the final grade (as explained and shown in the legend and summary table further below).

As shared in the Black-White Progress Report Cards narrative, we decided to use a grading scale (A, B, C, ...) as the most intuitive way to convey information about whether a key life outcome or disparity has improved or gotten worse over our selected time period. A decent grade does not imply that conditions are acceptable or that equity has been achieved. Rather, each grade reflects how the United States has performed from 2000 to 2020 on a particular variable for Hispanic and white populations—specifically, whether outcomes and disparities have improved or worsened over time. It is not an evaluation of current conditions. For example, the A- grade for median home value does not suggest that current home values are equitable or sufficient; instead, it reflects meaningful progress in reducing the disparity in median home values between Hispanic and white homeowners. Conversely, the F grade for infant mortality rates indicates that both absolute and relative disparities between the two groups have grown substantially over the period examined.

An important note to understand the four components that make up the disparity grade:

An important nuance which became more evident and dramatic in the development of the Hispanic-White Progress Report Cards is that determining whether a disparity widened or partially closed was not straightforward. As you may have noticed by clicking through some of the grades, disparity data is more complicated than it may superficially appear. In a few cases, such as bachelor’s degree in this case, the absolute value of the disparity grew or widened even though the disparity shrank in relative terms. But there is more to the story of progress than whether a disparity widened or closed. A disparity can grow wider even if the condition of the marginalized group improved. Conversely, a disparity can close or shrink simply because the condition of the non-marginalized group declined or got worse. Neither of those outcomes can be considered "progress" in the broadest sense. Therefore, we wanted our Progress Grading Report to account for both whether there was absolute progress for the racially marginalized group as well as the relative rates of progress. Progress has to account for the absolute performance or outcomes for groups, not just the disparities between them, and the relative rates of progress between them. Ultimately, we need to know whether a disparity is on pace to widen or close, not just whether it has increased or decreased. Our Progress Grading Report card takes account of all four inputs.

Below is a legend and a summary of the four factors we used to calculate the grades. All four factors are equally weighted. Click any item on the summary table to highlight that row.

• Absolute Disparity: Percentage change in the absolute disparity between Hispanic and white Americans from 2000 to 2020
• Relative Disparity: Percentage change in the relative disparity between Hispanic and white Americans from 2000 to 2020
• Absolute Progress: The percentage change in the outcome or performance of that condition or indicator for Hispanic Americans from 2000 to 2020
• Relative Progress: The percentage difference in the rate of growth for the variable for Hispanic and white Americans from 2000 to 2020

Detailed explanations of the calculation of each component and its contribution to the final grade are provided in the technical notes on the Black-White Progress Report Cards 1970-2020 web page.

Summary Chart:

Closing Notes:

Thank you for your interest in this project. Please let us know if any additional indicators would make this analysis interesting and more meaningful.  If you have any questions or suggestions, email us at belonging@berkeley.edu. Your feedback will be important to us as we consider further iterations of this project.