Sunday, September 13, 2009
(photo: immigrationhereandthere.org)
It’s hard out there to be a Latino worker, according to a new report published by the National Council of La Raza. More than any other ethnic group, Latinos are at the highest risk to die on the job—a situation that has not changed in 16 years. More than 900 Latinos, mostly immigrants, died in 2007 from an injury at work, out of a total of 5,657 work-related fatalities in the U.S.
The news is grim for Latinos in other areas as well. In 2007, just over 40% of Latino workers earned poverty-level wages ($10.20/hour to sustain a family of four). Only 21.9% of Caucasian and 34% of African-American workers suffered the same fate.
Also, only 52.3% of employed Latinos had health insurance through their employers, compared to 72.6% of Caucasian and 67.1% of African-American workers. Only 34.6% of Latinos had access to a retirement plan through their jobs.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Fractures in the Foundation (National Council of La Raza)
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