Causes of United States Puerto Rican poverty using regional and metropolitan comparisons

Among the national origin groups which comprise the U.S. "Hispanic" population, Puerto Ricans exhibit the lowest economic and highest poverty levels. By examining comparisons between Puerto Ricans and other Hispanic groups, disaggregating 1990 Puerto Rican census data, and using a political economy framework for analysis, this research attempts to document the nature of Puerto Rican poverty, discover its causes, and discern how Puerto Ricans are responding to this crisis.;This research found that the experience of Puerto Ricans is not uniform between U.S. regions nor between metropolitan areas within a region. Therefore, data was disaggregated at the metropolitan area level which became the primary unit of analysis.;Puerto Ricans are decentralizing away from New York City, their traditional settlement choice, and return migration to the island has picked up in response to the economic declines of the Northeast. There is some evidence of selectivity in the internal migratory patterns leaving those with the lowest levels of human capital in New York City and similar Rustbelt central cities.;It was found that those Puerto Ricans who work tend to do well. The problem seems to be a lack of job opportunities. Preliminary findings indicate that Puerto Ricans are doing better in areas where they have been able to establish new ethnic niches in the labor structure. However, data limitations allow for only a tentative finding.;Although we are beginning to see an increase in the aggregated economic status of Puerto Ricans from 1980 to 1990, we also see that the result of selective internal migration is that areas such as New York City house an increasingly dependent poor Puerto Rican population characterized by female-headed families and housed in residentially segregated areas. This population faces an opportunity structure that has little room for low-skilled, residual labor that is not easily exploitable due to citizenship status and earlier politicization. Future research is necessary to develop policies allowing for the absorption of this population into the post-industrial economic structure.