You are here: Home > Video > Breaking News > World

Asian Americans face uncertain financial future

: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail CNTV, July 9, 2012

Adjust font size:

Even though Asian Americans appear to be surviving the economic storm better than most, many in this community still face an uncertain financial future. [File photo]

Since the 2008 financial meltdown, Asian-Americans are finding more employment than any other ethnic group in the United States. But according to the U.S. Census Bureau, more and more Asian Americans are also poor.

No U.S. president has been re-elected with unemployment around 8 percent for over half a century. So the Obama administration is tracking the monthly unemployment figures closely, as are voters.

But there are some unique challenges facing the Asian-American community in the Washington, D.C. area.

"It’s hard to find a job in the US because I’m foreign."

One organization hoping to make a difference is the Asian Fortune Newspaper. Organizer Lily Chen welcomed businesses and government agencies seeking to diversify their workforce.

Lily Chen, owner of Asian fortune newspaper, said, "My father started putting on these job fairs in 2008 when the financial crisis hit, to reach out to the community and help them."

The most recent U.S. census found that Asian-Americans earn the highest median wage, mainly because they have the largest proportion of college graduates. Nearly 60% of Asian-Americans over 25 hold a college degree. But the impressive number of skilled workers is also masking challenges in the community when it comes to poverty.

The aggregate data paints a rosier picture, thanks in large part to the recent rise in professional, affluent, Asian immigrants but it’s masking a problem among less skilled Asian workers already in the U.S. The census figures show there’s also been a downward trend in the number of young Asian Americans graduating from college and high school.

A report from the national Coalition for Asian Pacific American Community Development shows the number of Asian-Americans living in poverty has jumped nearly 46% over the last ten years-only surpassed by Hispanic-Americans at 55% and Native Hawaiian Pacific Islanders at 77%. The poverty rate among Asians born in the United States has now exceeded the rate among Asian immigrants.

President Obama addressed some of these issues during his recent speech at the Asian American and Pacific Islander Gala in Washington DC.

Barack Obama, US President, said, "We have to remember that there are still educational disparities, like higher dropout rates in certain groups, lower college enrollment rates in others. There are still economic disparities like higher rates of poverty and obstacles to employment."

So even though Asian Americans appear to be surviving the economic storm better than most, many in this community still face an uncertain financial future.