Help Us Fight for
Latino Consumer Rights
Solving Issues Affecting
the Latino Community
Energy Prices Financial Services Health Care Immigration Reform Senior Issues
The Latino community is the fastest growing ethnic group in the country. More than 15 million Latinos reside in the Golden State, making it roughly 39 percent of the total population. And that number will only continue to grow. As consumers, Latinos represent a significant opportunity for businesses large and small.
Yet, despite their growth and sheer spending power, Latino consumers have long been underrepresented in the halls of power at local and state levels. Not anymore. The Latino Consumer Federation is dedicated to protecting consumer rights, advocating on behalf of Latino consumers, educating Latino consumers, and acting as a constructive voice between the business community, elected officials, and Latino consumers.
THE ISSUES
Workers from households whose income is below the federal poverty level pay a larger proportion of their income for gas.
The recent economic downturn has left more Latino families in substandard and overcrowded rental housing compared to just five years ago.
Nearly every health disparity experienced could be prevented or more effectively managed given timely access to Health Care.
The United States is in dire need of fundamental immigration reform that is realistic, flexible, & addresses the human & family toll.
Economic insecurity is especially difficult for older adults who are often not physically able to improve their economic situation.
Help Us Work to Bring Energy Costs Down
While the increase in gas prices has increased costs for all commuters, workers from households whose income is below the federal poverty level pay a larger proportion of their income for gas. Furthermore, both electricity and energy costs have risen at staggering rates, worsening the pressure felt by low-income families to make ends meet.
According to an Urban Institute Study, low-income commuters on average have slightly shorter commutes than those with incomes above the poverty level. However, because their incomes are much lower, poorer commuters spend a much higher portion of their wages on gas. As gas prices exceed $5 per gallon, poorer families may see as much as 10 percent of their incomes devoted to buying gasoline.
Creating Better Futures for All Latino Consumers
More than half of home ownership growth over the past decade has come from the Latino population. That trend is expected to continue. A study by the Urban Institute forecasts Latino buyers will comprise 70% of home ownership growth from 2020-2040, serving as the growth engine of American home buying. In fact, the Urban Institute suggests that Latinos will be the only ethnic or racial group that will experience a higher home ownership rate over the next couple of decades.
The gains Hispanic families have made were greatly diminished by the recent economic downturn. As a result, more Latinos households now live in substandard and overcrowded rental housing than five years ago.
Ensuring Access to
Affordable Health Care
While Latinos are affected by a wide range of risk factors and diseases, nearly every health disparity experienced could be prevented or more effectively managed given timely access to health care. According to a study conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Latinos have the highest rate of long-COVID and were nearly twice as likely to be hospitalized or killed by COVID-19 compared to White, Non-Hispanic persons.
While a number of barriers including a widespread lack of health insurance and an inadequate supply of linguistically appropriate services preventing Latinos from gaining access to quality care have improved since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, much work remains to be done.
The LCF is dedicated to improving the health of Latinos by working with health care providers and consumers to make available high-quality, culturally sensitive and linguistically appropriate health care and prevention services to everyone regardless of ability to pay or immigration status.
Working Toward Realistic, Flexible Immigration Reform
The United States is in dire need of fundamental immigration reform that is realistic, flexible, and addresses the human and family toll. Today, Immigration Reform remains a stubbornly difficult issue.
The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act of 2010 provided a much-needed framework that included a pathway to citizenship and establish a process for so-called Dreamers to apply for conditional status and ultimately citizenship. The Act did not gain the necessary support and remains a controversial issue.
Why is this a consumer issue? Simply put, effective immigration reform is an economic issue that will result in increased opportunities for local businesses. Latinos accounted for more than a third of all food process workers and construction workers, more than a quarter of all medical assistants and restaurant workers, and nearly half of the apparel manufacturing workforce.
Taking Care of Our Senior Latino Consumers
According to recent studies, the poverty rate among Latino seniors is nearly 18%, double the rate for all older Americans. Economic insecurity is especially difficult for older adults who are often not physically able to improve their economic situation by re-entering the workforce.
Most of the elderly experiencing economic insecurity spent their youth and adulthood in the workforce but were unable to save enough money to support their basic needs in older age.
The recent economic downturn and the lingering impacts from COVID has made conditions even more dire, wiping out wealth accumulated in Latino households during boom years, including property value, and making even low-wage and low-benefits jobs scarce.
Latino families endure disproportionately high levels of unemployment. Despite recent decreases in unemployment from 8.6% to 4.6%, unemployment remains higher than non-Latino workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. These current conditions among working-age Latino head of households point to even higher levels of economic insecurity among older adults in the future.
The economic downturn combined with high national debt has resulted in a political push to put federal programs on the chopping block that were once considered immune to cuts, among them Social Security. Older Latino adults are more likely to be wholly dependent on Social Security than any other racial or ethnic group. Without Social Security, a full 50% of Latino older adults would be living in poverty.
