About the Survey

The Pew Research Center’s 2012 Asian-American Survey is based on telephone interviews conducted by landline and cell phone with a nationally representative sample of 3,511 Asian adults ages 18 and older living in the United States. The survey was conducted in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia. The survey was designed to include representative subsamples of the six largest Asian groups in the U.S. population: Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. The survey also included Asians from other Asian subgroups.

Respondents who identified as “Asian or Asian American, such as Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese” were eligible to complete the survey interview, including those who identified with more than one race and regardless of Hispanic ethnicity. The question on racial identity also offered the following categories: white, black or African American, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander.

Classification into U.S. Asian groups is based on self-identification of respondent’s “specific Asian group.” Asian groups named in this open-ended question were “Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, or of some other Asian background.” Respondents self-identified with more than 22 specific Asian groups. Those who identified with more than one Asian group were classified based on the group with which “they identify most.” Respondents who identified their specific Asian group as Taiwanese or Chinese Taipei are classified as Chinese Americans for this report.

The survey was conducted using a probability sample from multiple sources. The data are weighted to produce a final sample that is representative of Asian adults in the United States. Survey interviews were conducted under the direction of Abt SRBI, in English and Cantonese, Hindi, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Tagalog and Vietnamese. For more details on the methodology, see Appendix 1.

• The survey was conducted Jan. 3-March 27, 2012 in all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, and the District of Columbia.
• 3,511 interviews including 728 interviews with Chinese Americans, 504 interviews with Filipino Americans, 580 interviews with Indian Americans, 515 interviews with Japanese Americans, 504 interviews with Korean Americans, 504 interviews with Vietnamese Americans and 176 interviews with Asians of other backgrounds.
• Margin of error is plus or minus 2.4 percentage points for results based on the total sample at the 95% confidence level. Margins of error for results based on subgroups of Asian Americans, ranging from 3.1 to 7.8 percentage points, are included in Appendix 1.

Notes on Terminology

Unless otherwise noted, survey results for “Asian Americans” and “U.S. Asians” refer to adults living in the United States, whether U.S. citizens or not U.S. citizens and regardless of immigration status. Both terms are used interchangeably. Adults refers to those ages 18 and older.

U.S. Asian groups, subgroups, heritage groups and country of origin groups are used interchangeably to reference respondent’s self-classification into “specific Asian groups.” This self-identification may or may not match a respondent’s country of birth or their parent’s country of birth.

Unless otherwise noted, whites include only non-Hispanic whites. Blacks include only non-Hispanic blacks. Hispanics are of any race. Asians can also be Hispanic.

Poverty is calculated based on the total population. For this and other reasons, the share in poverty in this report is not comparable with the Census Bureau’s official poverty rate. (Note: The report was revised July 12, 2012 to change “poverty rate” to “% in poverty” or “share in poverty,” and to add a definition to Notes on Terminology.)

Chapter 1: Portrait of Asian Americans

I. Overall Characteristics

The 2010 Census counted more than 17 million Asian Americans, or 5.6% of the U.S. population (and 5.5% of U.S. adults ages 18 and older). The Asian-American population grew faster than any other race group from 2000 to 2010 (46%) and its numbers roughly quadrupled from 1980 to 2010.

Included in this population are 2.6 million U.S. mixed-race residents who are Asian and at least one additional race, accounting for 15% of all Asian Americans. The share of Asians of more than one race is higher than the comparable share of whites (3%), blacks (7%) and Hispanics (6%). This mixed-race group, most of whom identify as Asian and white, grew by 60% from 2000 to 2010, even faster than the Asian-American population.

Asian Americans either are immigrants from Asia (59%) or are descendants of immigrants (41%). The vast majority of the Asian-American population (at least 83%) trace their roots to only six countries—China, India, Japan, Korea, the Philippines and Vietnam. As the accompanying chart shows, Chinese are the most numerous of these six groups, Japanese the least.

Asian Americans have a long history in the United States, dating to the early 19th century, when thousands came to work in agriculture, construction and other low-wage jobs. The Asian-American population grew slowly for more than a century because severe restrictions or outright prohibitions were imposed on most immigration from Asia. Most Asian Americans now living in the U.S. arrived as a result of passage of 1965 immigration legislation that opened admission to people from a wider range of countries.

As new opportunities to immigrate became available, the foreign-born Asian-American population, which numbered only 2.2 million in 1980, grew by 2.3 million over the 1980s and 2.9 million in the 1990s. From 2000 to 2010, the Asian-American immigrant population increased by an additional 2.8 million.

The Asian-American immigrant population has grown rapidly over the past decade as a result of continued large flows from Asia. By contrast, new immigration from Latin America, while still significant, has fallen considerably since the middle of the last decade. As a result, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data, the number of newly arrived Asian-American immigrants has surpassed the number of newly arrived Hispanic immigrants since at least 2009.

About 36% of new immigrants in 2010 were Asian, compared with 31% who were Hispanic. About 430,000 Asian immigrants arrived in the U.S. in 2010, compared with about 370,000 Hispanics. As recently as 2007, the numbers were about 390,000 (Asians) and 540,000 (Hispanics). These totals include arrivals with both legal and unauthorized status, as well as those arriving with work, student or other temporary visas.

Unauthorized Asian-American immigrants account for about 10-11% of the U.S. unauthorized population and about 13-15% of the Asian immigrant population during the 2000-2010 decade, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of government data. In contrast, Hispanic unauthorized immigrants account for about three-quarters of the U.S. unauthorized population and about 45% of Hispanic immigrants.

Most Asian immigrants who obtain green cards—that is, permanent resident status—do so via sponsorship by family members, as is true of all immigrants. But Asian immigrants are notably more likely than immigrants from other nations to be admitted with employment visas.

In 2011, according to Department of Homeland Security statistics, 62% of immigrants from the six largest Asian source countries received green cards based on family members already in the U.S., compared with 66% of other immigrants who did so. Among immigrants from these Asian nations, 27% received green cards based on employer sponsorship, compared with 8% of other immigrants who did so. The share has varied throughout the past decade but has been markedly higher for Asian immigrants than for others.

However, considerable variation exists among the top six countries of origin. In 2011, the shares of immigrants granted green cards for employment reasons were about half or more for those from Korea (55%) and India (49%), as well as 33% for Japan and 21% for China. The shares were far lower for immigrants from the Philippines (13%) and Vietnam (1%).

Geographically, Asian Americans are disproportionately likely to live in Western states (46% did in 2010, compared with 23% of the U.S. population overall). This residential pattern reflects historic ports of arrival for most Asian Americans, as well as the immigrant pattern of moving to established enclaves.

According to projections by the Pew Research Center, the nation’s Asian-American population will continue to grow more rapidly than the U.S. population overall, and it will be less dominated by immigrants than it now is. The Asian population will grow to 41 million in 2050, nearly tripling in size. Nearly all of the future growth in the Asian population (94%) will be due to immigrants arriving after 2005 and their descendants. But arrivals of new immigrants will play a declining role in Asian population change, and births in the United States to immigrants and their descendants will play a growing role. In 2005, most Asians in the United States (58%) were foreign born; by 2050, fewer than half (47%) will be foreign born.

Within the Asian-American population are diverse histories, languages, cultures and characteristics, which are discussed later in this chapter in separate sections for each of the six largest countries of origin. Asian Americans also share distinct economic and demographic characteristics as a group, especially in the realms of nativity, educational attainment, income and family structure.

Race and Nativity

The six major country groups vary markedly in the shares that are only one race. More than a third (35%) of Japanese Americans identify themselves as multiracial, and an additional 6% are of mixed-Asian heritage. By contrast, only 6% of Vietnamese report being of mixed race and an additional 5% report a mixed-Asian background. The difference is in part a reflection of assimilation and of the Japanese-American population’s longer history in the U.S.

Most Asian Americans are foreign born—59%, compared with 13% of the U.S. population overall in 2010. (The share is even higher for adults—74%, compared with 16%.) The share varies by country of origin, from a low of 38% for single-race Japanese to 75% for single-race Koreans. These differences largely reflect the timing of each group’s major influx of immigration.

The Asian-American native-born adult population is evenly split between males and females, but the foreign-born Asian population has more females than males—54% of women versus 46% of men. Among foreign-born Japanese-American adults, the female-to-male ratio is more than 2-to-1. The exception is foreign-born Indian-American adults; there are slightly more men than women in this group.

Just over half of foreign-born Asian-American adults either speak only English at home or speak English very well (53%), a standard measure of language proficiency. (That share from the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey is similar to the 49% of foreign-born Asian-American adults in the 2012 Pew Research Center Asian-American survey who say they speak English very well.) The share of Asian-American adults who speak only English or speak English very well is modestly higher than for other U.S. foreign-born adults (45%), according to census data.

Looking at two measures of attachment to the U.S.—emigration and naturalization—Asian immigrants are less likely to leave than other groups and more likely to become citizens.

Emigration from the U.S. by former immigrants is difficult to measure precisely. However, various estimates of overall emigration generally are in the range of 1% to 1.5% per year, and Asian emigration appears to be a bit lower than average.

As for citizenship, 59% of foreign-born Asian adults in the U.S. are naturalized citizens, compared with 45% of all foreign-born adults. The share varies notably among different subgroups. Only a third of immigrant Japanese adults (33%) are citizens, compared with three-quarters (76%) of Vietnamese immigrant adults.

Education

Educational attainment among Asian Americans is markedly higher than that of the U.S. population overall. Among those ages 25 and older, 49% hold at least a college degree, compared with 28% of the U.S. population overall. As with nativity, the share among those ages 25 and older varies by country of origin: Vietnamese (26%) are the only group below the U.S. share, and Indians (70%) are much higher.

Educational attainment is especially notable among recent immigrants from Asia, those who arrived in the three years prior to the 2010 American Community Survey. In 2010, 61% of those ages 25 to 64 held a college degree (compared with 30% of other recent immigrants ages 25 to 64).

Recent Indian immigrants ages 25 to 64 are most likely to hold a college degree (81%), but more than half of comparably aged new immigrants from China, the Philippines, Korea and Japan also are college-educated. Only 17% of recent immigrants ages 25 to 64 from Vietnam are college-educated, however.

Compared with the educational attainment of the population of their country of origin, recent Asian immigrants are a select group. For example, about 27% of adults ages 25 to 64 in South Korea and 25% in Japan have a bachelor’s degree or more. In contrast, nearly 70% of comparably aged recent immigrants from these two countries have at least a bachelor’s degree.

Using a broader measure—the share enrolled in college or holding a college degree—the educational characteristics of recent Asian immigrants also compare favorably with those of other races.

Among Asian immigrant adults ages 18 and older who arrived in 2007-2010, nearly two-thirds (65%) were enrolled in college or graduate school, or held a college degree. This share was higher than for comparable white recent immigrants (58%) and markedly higher than for black (38%) or Hispanic (16%) recent immigrants.

Young adults from Asian countries are overrepresented among current students, accounting for more than six-in-ten of all foreign students studying at U.S. institutions. China, India and South Korea are the top three countries whose students are studying in the U.S., with Taiwan ranking fifth (behind Canada) and Japan and Vietnam ranking seventh and eighth (behind Saudi Arabia).

Asian students, both foreign born and U.S. born, also are heavily overrepresented in the awarding of U.S. advanced degrees. In 2010, Asian students accounted for 25% of the 48,069 research doctorates granted at U.S. universities. They collected a plurality (45%) of all engineering Ph.D.s awarded that year, as well as 38% of doctorates in math and computer sciences; 33% of doctorates in the physical sciences; 25% of those in the life sciences; and 19% of those in the social sciences.

Employment

One reflection of their high level of educational attainment is that half of employed Asian Americans (50%) are in management, professional and related occupations, a higher share than the roughly 40% for employed Americans overall. Many of these occupations require advanced degrees.

However, the proportion in these occupations varies by group. Among Indians, two-thirds hold such jobs, as do more than half of Chinese and Japanese. Slightly less than half of Filipinos and Koreans hold management and professional jobs. Among Vietnamese, only about a third do.

These high levels of educational attainment are a factor in the occupational profile of Asian Americans, especially their concentration in the fields of science and engineering. Among adults, 14% of Asian Americans hold these types of jobs, compared with 5% of the U.S. population overall. The share among Indians is 28%.

Another facet of the Asian-American occupational profile is the high share of immigrants from Asian countries who are in the U.S. under the H1-B visa program. These visas were authorized under the Immigration and Nationality Act in 1990 to increase the inflow of highly skilled “guest workers” from abroad. Asian countries are now the source of about three-quarters of such temporary visas. In 2011, India alone accounted for 72,438 of the 129,134 H1-B visas granted, or 56%; China was responsible for 10,849, or 8%.

A somewhat lower share of Asian Americans, compared with all employed Americans, are in jobs that include labor, maintenance and transportation—11%, compared with 15%. However, the shares for country groups are all below the national share except for Vietnamese—20% of employed Vietnamese Americans hold these types of jobs.

Looking at recent unemployment statistics, Asian Americans were somewhat less likely to be unemployed than the national average for the first quarter of 2012 (6% compared with 7% for workers ages 25 and older). However, the gap differs by educational attainment. Less educated Asian Americans, those with no college education, had lower unemployment than comparably educated workers overall. But Asian Americans with some college or a college degree had about the same level of unemployment as comparably educated workers overall.

One defining feature of the recent recession and slow economic recovery has been a high level of long-term unemployment. On this measure, Asian Americans have fared worse than workers overall, and most other race groups. Among workers ages 25 and older who were unemployed in the first quarter of 2012, the median duration of unemployment for Asian Americans was 28 weeks, second only to black workers among the major race and ethnic groups. The median duration of unemployment was worse for Asian Americans than for all workers at each level of educational attainment.

Income

Educational attainment and occupational patterns are key factors in explaining the above-average household incomes for Asian Americans as a whole—a median $66,000 in 2010, vs. $49,800 for the U.S. population—and for most country of origin groups.

Median income may also be viewed in the context of number of earners per household and household size. Asian-American households have more earners on average than U.S. households overall—1.6 compared with 1.4. Additional earners help boost overall household income.

In addition, the average Asian-American household (3.1 people) is larger than the average U.S. household (2.6), and larger households mean that income must be divided among a larger number of people.

To add another perspective to the analysis, the Pew Research Center adjusted median household incomes for household size differences and standardized income to a household size of three. Based on that adjustment, the median household income for all U.S. households is 82% of the median household income of Asian Americans, compared with 75% when household incomes are not adjusted.

Geography may also be a factor in explaining these income differences. According to some analysts, higher incomes can be linked to the geographic concentration of Asian Americans in states with higher incomes and higher costs of living.

Wealth and Poverty

Median household wealth for Asian Americans was $83,500 in 2010, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of data from the Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation, considered the most comprehensive source of information about wealth by race and ethnicity. Wealth is defined as net worth, or the sum of assets (such as cars, homes, savings and retirement accounts) minus debts (such as mortgages, auto loans and credit card debt).

Asian-American wealth in 2010 was higher than the median net worth for households overall ($68,529). Compared with other race or ethnic groups, Asian Americans had lower median household wealth than non-Hispanic whites ($112,000). But Asian-American wealth was notably higher than it was for Hispanics ($7,800) or for blacks ($5,730).

Asian-American adults overall are somewhat less likely to be poor than U.S. adults overall (11.9% for Asian Americans, compared with 12.8% for the U.S.). The share of the population living below the poverty line varies widely by country of origin, ranging from 6.2% for Filipino adults to 15.1% for Korean adults.

Family Structure

In terms of family structure, Asian Americans are more likely to be currently married than U.S. adults overall and to have lower rates of birth outside of marriage. The current differences reflect in large part the heavy immigrant presence among Asian Americans. As a group, Asian-American adults are more likely to be married than the U.S. population overall—59%, compared with 51%. Among foreign-born Asian-American adults, two-thirds (67%) are married. Among U.S.-born Asian-American adults, 35% are married, in part because they are younger.

According to the 2010 American Community Survey, among women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the previous year, only 15% of Asian Americans were unmarried, compared with 37% for the population overall. Among foreign-born Asian-American mothers ages 18 to 44, only 10% were unmarried, illustrating the strong influence of the immigrant population on the overall Asian-American data.

According to another data source, the National Center for Health Statistics, Asian-American and Pacific Islander women of childbearing age (15-44) are about as likely as other women to have given birth in the past year. But only 16% of births to Asian-American and Pacific Islander women in 2009 were to unmarried mothers, compared with 41% for the overall population. Among foreign-born Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, only 12% of births were to unmarried women.

One result of these marriage and birth status profiles is that Asian-American children are notably more likely than U.S. children overall to live with two married parents—80% to 63%, according to the 2010 ACS. Some variation exists by subgroup, from 74% of Filipino children to 92% of Indian children.

There are differences among Asian-American subgroups in the share of newlyweds marrying someone of a different race. Among all recent Asian-American newlyweds (2008-2010), 29% married someone of another race and 6% married someone from another Asian group.

The majority of recent Japanese-American newlyweds married someone of another race (55%) or Asian subgroup (9%). The same was true for Filipino Americans; 48% married someone who was not Asian American, and 5% married someone from another Asian group. Koreans (39%), Chinese (35%) and Vietnamese (27%) were somewhat less likely to marry outside their race or subgroup.

Indian Americans are the least likely among Asian-American groups to marry out—only 12% married someone of another race, and 2% married someone from another Asian group.

For more about attitudes toward intermarriage from the 2012 Asian-American survey, see Chapter 3.

Multi-generational families—those with two or more adult generations (or a grandchild and grandparent) living under one roof—are more common in households headed by Asian Americans than those headed by a member of other race and ethnic groups. Multi-generational homes in 2010 accounted for more than a quarter (28%) of all people living in households headed by non-Hispanic Asians. That is somewhat higher than for households headed by non-Hispanic blacks (26%) and Hispanics (25%) and notably higher than for non-Hispanic whites (14%).

The likelihood of multi-generational living varies markedly by Asian-American group. Residents of households headed by someone who is Vietnamese (34%) or Filipino (33%) are most likely to be in multi-generational families. People in households with Korean (20%) or Japanese (18%) heads are least likely to be in multi-generational families. In between are residents of households with heads who are Chinese (26%) or Indian (23%).

Region of Residence

Nearly half of Asian-American adults (47%) live in Western states, double the share of U.S. residents overall. This largely reflects historic immigration patterns.

The Northeast and South each are home to about a fifth of Asian-American adults. Asian Americans are least likely to live in the Midwest; only 11% of adults do.

Residential settlement patterns vary greatly among different country of origin groups. The West is home to most Japanese-American adults (71%) and most Filipino-American adults (66%). Among adults, Chinese Americans, Vietnamese Americans and Korean Americans also are more likely to live in the West than in any other region.

However, Indian-American adults are more evenly distributed around the country, and the West is not their first choice of residential region. The largest share of Indian-American adults (31%) live in the Northeast, followed by the South (29%), West (24%) and Midwest (17%).

Residential Segregation

By several measures of residential segregation, Asian Americans are less isolated than either blacks or Hispanics. In 2010, the typical Asian American lived in a census tract with a lower share of his or her own race and a higher share of non-Hispanic whites than did the typical black or Hispanic; Asian Americans also are less segregated than whites. However, looking at long-term trends, Asian Americans (and Hispanics) are at least as segregated as they were in 1980, while black segregation has declined somewhat.

In 2010, the average Asian American lived in a census tract in which Asians were 20% of the tract’s residents. By comparison, the typical black lived in a tract that was 45% black and the typical Hispanic lived in a tract that was 45% Hispanic. (This comparison should be treated with caution: Other race and Hispanic groups are more numerous than Asians, and so they have greater potential to cluster). Asian Americans also are likely to have a higher share of non-Hispanic whites in their neighborhoods than do blacks or Hispanics. In 2010 the typical Asian American resided in a tract in which non-Hispanic whites were 48% of the tract’s population, compared with 36% for the typical non-Hispanic black and 37% for the typical Hispanic.

Asian Americans are less segregated than other groups under another often-used measure of residential segregation—the dissimilarity index, which captures the degree to which a population is unevenly spread among census tracts of a metropolitan area. It ranges between 0 and 1, with higher values revealing that a group is more highly concentrated, or segregated. In 2010, Asian-white dissimilarity was 0.41, compared with 0.59 for black-white dissimilarity and 0.48 for Hispanic-white dissimilarity.

Looking at change from 1980 to 2010, the Asian-American population is at least as segregated today as it was three decades ago, although the level of segregation between those years varies depending on the measure used.

In 2010, 11% of Asian Americans lived in a census tract in which at least half of the tract’s residents were Asian, the same share as in 1980. By comparison, in 2010, 43% of Hispanics lived in a majority-Hispanic tract, compared with 34% in 1980. Both groups grew rapidly during this period.

The black population grew more slowly, and African Americans are markedly less likely to live in majority black census tracts in 2010 (41%) than in 1980 (56%). Non-Hispanic whites are also less likely to reside in majority white tracts in 2010 (90%) than in 1980 (96%).

II. Characteristics of Major Asian-American Subgroups

Chinese Americans

History

Chinese were among the first Asian immigrants to the United States. The California gold rush that began in 1848 attracted Chinese merchants and sailors initially, and larger scale immigration began in 1852 when 52,000 Chinese arrived. Chinese laborers made up 90% of the workforce for the construction of the Central Pacific Railroad.

As early as 1870, Chinese were 9% of California’s population and 25% of its workforce. (The first Asian response category in the decennial census—“Chinese”—was added in California in 1860, and in other states the following decade.) Most were young single men who intended to work a few years and then return to China. Those who stayed seldom married because of laws severely limiting the immigration of Chinese women and prohibiting intermarriage with white women.

As gold became harder to find and railroad construction was completed, animosity toward the Chinese and other foreigners increased. After being forcibly driven from the gold mines, most Chinese settled in enclaves in cities, mainly San Francisco, and took up low-wage labor.

Often brought in to factories after white workers went on strike over labor practices, Chinese workers were blamed by labor leaders for the depressed wage levels in the 1870s and were a frequent target of hatred and racial violence. A succession of laws, including the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, prohibited Chinese people from naturalizing or immigrating.

The Chinese population reached its 19th-century peak in 1890 at about 107,000 people. Because of anti-Chinese laws, the highly imbalanced male-to-female ratio and the thousands of immigrants returning to China, the Chinese population in the U.S. fell to less than 50,000 in 1920.

Later on, immigration of all Asians, except Filipinos who were residents of a U.S. territory at that time, was prohibited by immigration laws, including the 1917 Immigration Act and the National Origins Act of 1924.

Large-scale immigration of Chinese started again after 1965, following passage of the landmark Immigration and Nationality Act. Many Chinese came as students and later obtained permanent resident visas. In contrast to earlier waves of immigrants, those of the past four decades are more likely to include educated professionals.

In 2010, an estimated 3 million adult Chinese Americans were in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Chinese Americans are the largest group among Asian Americans and represent about 24% of the adult Asian population in the U.S.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. Three-quarters (76%) of adult Chinese Americans in the United States are foreign born, similar to the share among all Asian adults (74%) and higher than the 16% share of all U.S. adults. The majority of Chinese adults are U.S. citizens (69%), similar to the share among the adult Asian population (70%) but lower than the national share (91%).
• Language. More than half of Chinese Americans (52%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of Asian Americans in general and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Chinese Americans is 43, slightly higher than among adult Asian Americans (41) and slightly lower than the national median (45).
• Marital status. Nearly six-in-ten (59%) adult Chinese Americans are married, a share equal to that among Asian Americans overall and higher than the national share (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Chinese-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months before the 2010 ACS was 5.8%; this is lower than the comparable share among Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and the national share (7.1%). About 11% of Chinese-American women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, slightly lower than among all Asian-American women (15%) and much lower than the national share (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Chinese Americans ages 25 and older, more than half (51%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is higher than the Asian-American share (49%) and much higher than the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Chinese-American full-time, year-round workers are $50,000, higher than for Asian Americans overall ($48,000) and for U.S. adults overall ($40,000). For households, the Chinese median annual income ($65,050) is somewhat lower than that for all Asians ($66,000) but higher than that among U.S. households overall ($49,800).
• Homeownership. More than six-in-ten Chinese Americans (62%) own a home, compared with 58% of Asian Americans overall and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Chinese Americans who live in poverty is 14%, slightly higher than the shares of all Asian Americans (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. Nearly half of adult Chinese Americans (49%) live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Chinese Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Chinese Americans are among the most likely to say discrimination against people from their country of origin is a major (16%) or minor (56%) problem. A quarter (24%) say discrimination is not a problem.
• Chinese Americans are less upbeat than most other U.S. Asian groups about their relationships with other major racial and ethnic groups. Only about two-in-ten say Chinese Americans and whites get along very well. And even fewer say Chinese Americans get along very well with blacks or Hispanics.

Filipino Americans

History

Filipino immigration to the U.S. began after the United States acquired the Philippines in 1898 as a result of the Spanish-American War. A large number of Filipinos went directly to Hawaii to work on plantations before coming to the U.S. mainland.

Filipinos were the only Asian group who lived on American territory and were therefore exempted from the 1917 and 1924 laws that prohibited Asian immigration to the country. Filipinos began to move to the U.S. mainland following the passage of the immigration law that excluded other Asians, amid increasing need for agricultural and service labor.

However, severe limits were placed on Filipino immigration when the Philippines was established as a commonwealth of the U.S. in 1934. The Filipino population in the U.S. dropped from about 108,000 to 98,000 in the decade that followed. The Philippines became an independent nation in 1946. After passage of the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, many Filipinos came to the U.S. to escape the Ferdinand Marcos regime and find more opportunities for employment.

In 2010, an estimated 2.3 million adult Filipino Americans lived in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Filipinos are the second-largest group among Asian Americans and represent about 18% of the adult Asian population in the U.S.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. Nearly seven-in-ten (69%) adult Filipino Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with about 74% of adult Asian Americans and 16% of the overall adult U.S. population. Three-quarters of Filipino adults are U.S. citizens (77%), higher than the share among all Asian adults (70%) but lower than the national share (91%).
• Language. More than three-quarters of Filipino Americans (78%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of Asian Americans overall and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Filipino Americans is 43, slightly higher than for adult Asian Americans (41) and slightly lower than the national median age (45).
• Marital status. More than half of adult Filipino Americans (56%) are married, a share slightly lower than that among Asian Americans overall (59%), but higher than the national share (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Filipino-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months prior to the 2010 American Community Survey was 6.5%; this is similar to the comparable share among Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and lower than the national share (7.1%). About 27% of Filipino-American women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, nearly double the share for all Asian-American women (15%) but lower than the national share (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Filipino Americans ages 25 and older, close to half (47%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is slightly lower than the Asian-American share (49%) but much higher than the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Filipino-American full-time, year-round workers are $43,000, lower than for all Asian Americans in general ($48,000) but higher than for U.S. adults overall ($40,000). Among households, median annual income for Filipinos is $75,000, higher than for all Asians ($66,000) and all U.S. households ($49,800).
• Homeownership. More than six-in-ten Filipino Americans (62%) own a home, compared with 58% of all Asian Americans and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Filipino Americans who live in poverty is 6%, lower than the shares of all Asian Americans (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. A majority of adult Filipino Americans (66%) live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Filipino Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Filipino Americans stand out among U.S. Asian groups for their low levels of social trust: 73% say you can’t be too careful in dealing with people, while only 23% say most people can be trusted.
• Compared with most other U.S. Asian groups, Filipino Americans have a more positive view of the job parents from their country of origin are doing raising their children. Roughly six-in-ten (64%) say parents who share their Filipino heritage put about the right amount of pressure on their children to do well in school; 22% say Filipino American parents put too much pressure on their children; and 13% say they don’t put enough pressure on children.

Indian Americans

History

The arrival of more than 6,000 Indians from Asia between 1904 and 1911, mainly to work as farmhands, marked the first major influx of this population into the United States. Indians from Asia in the U.S. were first classified in court decisions of 1910 and 1913 as Caucasians, and therefore could become citizens as well as intermarry with U.S.-born whites. However, the decisions were reversed by the Supreme Court in 1923, when Indians from Asia were legally classified as non-white and therefore ineligible for citizenship.

That court decision prevented Indian immigrants from naturalizing. New immigration from India already had been prohibited by a 1917 law.

The restrictions were lifted after passage of comprehensive immigration legislation in 1965. Since then, a large influx of highly educated professionals from India has immigrated to the U.S. for skilled employment. In 2010, an estimated 2.2 million adult Indian Americans lived in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Indians are the third-largest group among Asian Americans and represent about 17% of the U.S. adult Asian population.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. Nearly nine-in-ten (87%) adult Indian Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with about 74% of adult Asian Americans and 16% of the adult U.S. population overall. More than half of Indian-American adults are U.S. citizens (56%), lower than the share among overall adult Asian population (70%) as well as the national share (91%).
• Language. More than three-quarters of Indian Americans (76%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of all Asian Americans and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Indian Americans is 37, lower than for adult Asian Americans (41) and the national median (45).
• Marital status. More than seven-in-ten (71%) adult Indian Americans are married, a share significantly higher than for all Asian Americans (59%) and for the nation (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Indian-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months prior to the 2010 American Community Survey was 8.4%, higher than the comparable share for Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and the national share (7.1%). The share of these mothers who were unmarried was much lower among Indian Americans (2.3%) than among all Asian Americans (15%) and the population overall (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Indian Americans ages 25 and older, seven-in-ten (70%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is higher than the Asian-American share (49%) and much higher than the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Indian-American full-time, year-round workers are $65,000, significantly higher than for all Asian Americans ($48,000) as well as for all U.S. adults ($40,000). Among households, the median annual income for Indians is $88,000, much higher than for all Asians ($66,000) and all U.S. households ($49,800).
• Homeownership. More than half of Indian Americans (57%) own a home, compared with 58% of Asian Americans overall and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Indian Americans who live in poverty is 9%, lower than the shares of all Asian Americans (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. Indian Americans are more evenly spread out than other Asian Americans. About 24% of adult Indian Americans live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall. More than three-in-ten (31%) Indian Americans live in the Northeast, 29% live in the South, and the rest (17%) live in the Midwest.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Indian Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Indian Americans stand out from most other U.S. Asian groups in the personal importance they place on parenting; 78% of Indian Americans say being a good parent is one of the most important things to them personally.
• Indian Americans are among the most likely to say that the strength of family ties is better in their country of origin (69%) than in the U.S. (8%).
• Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Indian Americans are the most likely to identify with the Democratic Party; 65% are Democrats or lean to the Democrats, 18% are Republican or lean to the Republicans. And 65% of Indian Americans approve of President Obama’s job performance, while 22% disapprove.

Vietnamese Americans

History

Vietnamese immigration to the U.S. is largely a result of U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. During and after that war, Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian refugees fled the threat of political persecution and physical danger in their home countries and were resettled in the U.S. as part of an international resettlement effort.

Vietnamese immigration to the U.S. can be divided into four distinct waves. The first left in the early and mid-1970s, including about 130,000 refugees evacuated to the U.S. as a result of the fall of Saigon in 1975. Some were airlifted out in U.S. military helicopters. Most could speak some English, came from urban areas and were economically better off than the population as a whole. The second wave of Vietnamese refugees, who left the country in the late 1970s, was larger, less educated and poorer than the first wave, often leaving without capital or possessions. Many fled by boat and spent months or years in refugee camps before being resettled in the U.S. under sponsorship of churches, social agencies or families.

The third wave of Vietnamese immigrants entered the U.S. after 1980, many under a formal immigration process that resulted from an agreement between Vietnam and the U.S. The fourth wave, which dates from the mid-1990s, includes a growing number of immigrants who arrive under family unification visas—the result of an established community in the U.S.

In 2010, an estimated 1.31 million adult Vietnamese Americans were in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Vietnamese Americans are the fourth-largest group among Asian Americans and represent about 10% of the adult Asian-American population in the U.S.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. More than eight-in-ten (84%) adult Vietnamese Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with about 74% adult Asian Americans and 16% of the adult U.S. population overall. A majority of Vietnamese adults are U.S. citizens (80%), higher than the share among the overall adult Asian population (70%) and lower than the national share (91%).
• Language. Less than half of Vietnamese Americans (41%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of all Asian Americans and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Vietnamese Americans is 41, the same as for adult Asian Americans (41) and lower than the national median (45).
• Marital status. More than half (57%) of adult Vietnamese Americans are married, a share slightly lower than for Asian Americans overall (59%), but higher than for the nation (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Vietnamese-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months before the American Community Survey was 6.6%; this is similar to the comparable share for Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and lower than the national share (7.1%). About 12% of Vietnamese-American women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, a lower share than for all comparable Asian-American women (15%) and for all comparable women (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Vietnamese Americans ages 25 and older, about a quarter (26%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is significantly lower than the Asian-American share (49%) and slightly lower than the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Vietnamese-American full-time, year-round workers are $35,000, lower than the median earnings for all Asian Americans ($48,000) and all U.S. adults ($40,000). Among households, the median annual income for Vietnamese Americans is $53,400, lower than for all Asian Americans ($66,000) but higher than for all U.S. households ($49,800).
• Homeownership. More than six-in-ten Vietnamese Americans (63%) own a home, compared with 58% of all Asian Americans and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Vietnamese American who live in poverty is 15%, higher than the shares of Asian Americans in general (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. Nearly half of adult Vietnamese Americans (49%) live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Vietnamese Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Vietnamese Americans are especially likely to see conditions in the U.S. as better than in their country of origin. More than nine-in-ten (94%) of Vietnamese Americans say the opportunity to get ahead is better in the U.S. than in Vietnam; 87% say the freedom to practice one’s religion is better in the U.S.; 86% say treatment of the poor is better in the U.S.; and 84% say conditions for raising children are better in the U.S.
• Among the U.S. Asian groups, Vietnamese Americans are the most upbeat about their children’s futures. Fully 48% expect their children’s standard of living to be much better than theirs is, when their children reach a comparable age.
• Vietnamese Americans are the most likely among U.S. Asian groups to believe in the value of hard work. More than eight-in-ten (83%) agree that most people can get ahead if they work hard, while only 15% say hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people.

Korean Americans

History

Early Korean immigrants mostly began their journey to the U.S. in Hawaii. Between 1903 and 1905, more than 7,000 Koreans were recruited for plantation labor work there. Korean immigrants, about 40% of whom were Christians, built many churches in Hawaii.

Korean immigration to the mainland U.S. was sparse through World War II. The arrivals included about a thousand workers who came from Hawaii, about a hundred Korean mail-order “picture brides” and perhaps 900 students, many of whom fled because of their opposition to the Japanese annexation of their nation in 1910.

A relatively small number of Koreans arrived in the U.S. in mid-century as brides of service members in the Korean War, orphans adopted by U.S. couples, or professionals and students.

The majority of the present Korean population in the U.S. came after the 1965 immigration act was implemented. Educational attainment increased in Korea in the 1960s and 1970s, but few job opportunities for skilled workers were available. Skilled professionals moved to U.S. and many other countries. Some immigrants founded small businesses; Koreans have the highest self-employment rate among U.S. Asian groups.

In 2010, an estimated 1.26 million adult Koreans Americans were in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Koreans are the fifth-largest group among Asian Americans and represent about 10% of the adult Asian population in the U.S.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) adult Korean Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with 74% of adult Asian Americans and 16% of adults in the U.S. A majority of Korean adults are U.S. citizens (67%), lower than the share among overall adult Asian population (70%) and the national share (91%).
• Language. Slightly more than half of Korean Americans (54%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of all Asian Americans and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Korean Americans is 40, similar to that of all adult Asian Americans (41) and lower than the national median (45).
• Marital status. More than half of adult Korean Americans (56%) are married, a share slightly lower than for all Asian Americans (59%) but higher than the national share (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Korean-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months before the 2010 American Community Survey was 5.2%, lower than the comparable share among Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and the national share (7.1%). About 9% of Korean-American women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, a share lower than for all comparable Asian-American women (15%) and all comparable U.S. women (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Korean Americans ages 25 and older, more than half (53%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree; this is higher than the Asian-American share (49%) as well as the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Korean-American full-time, year-round workers are $45,000, lower than for all Asian Americans ($48,000) but higher than for all U.S. adults ($40,000). Among households, the median annual income for Koreans is $50,000, lower than for all Asians ($66,000) but slightly higher than for the U.S. population ($49,800).
• Homeownership. Close to half of Korean Americans (48%) own a home, compared with 58% of all Asian Americans and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Korean Americans who live in poverty is 15%, higher than the shares of all Asian Americans (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. More than four-in-ten (45%) adult Korean Americans live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Korean Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Across U.S. Asian groups, Korean Americans seem to be more strongly connected to their intra-ethnic communities. They are the most likely to say that all or most of their friends share the same ethnic heritage (58%).
• Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Korean Americans are among the most likely to say that it is very important to them that future generations of Koreans living in the U.S. speak their ancestral language (62%).
• Korean Americans are more likely than U.S. Asians from other groups to say that parents from their country of origin put too much academic pressure on their children (60%); only 30% say Korean American parents put the right amount of pressure on their children; and 5% say they do not put enough pressure on children.
• Korean Americans stand out for their negative views on their group’s relations with blacks. Fully half say these two groups don’t get along well; while 39% say they get along pretty well and just 4% say they get along very well.

Japanese Americans

History

Japanese immigrants first came to Hawaii in the 19th century and became plantation workers; they did not come in large numbers to the United States until the 1890s. After the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, Japanese immigrants were sought by industrialists to replace Chinese immigrants who were barred from entry. In 1890, only about 2,000 Japanese lived on the U.S. mainland, but by 1910, the Japanese-American population of more than 72,000 exceeded the number of Chinese Americans.

In contrast to its policy toward Chinese immigrants, the U.S. government allowed immigration of Japanese women (as spouses) into the U.S., because of the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” between President Theodore Roosevelt and the Japanese government in 1907. This allowed many Japanese Americans to start families and establish stable communities.

After Japan’s attack of Pearl Harbor in December 1941 that triggered the U.S. declaration of war against Japan and entry into World War II, the FBI arrested thousands of Japanese Americans who were considered potential security threats. An estimated 120,000 Japanese Americans were relocated and placed in internment camps by the U.S. government. In many cases, interned Japanese-American families lost their land.

Japanese Americans were the largest Asian-American group from 1910 to 1960. Unlike other Asian immigrant groups during those years, much of the population lived in family groups so grew through births. Relatively few Japanese entered the U.S. after the major overhaul of immigration laws in 1965, in part because there were fewer factors (such as lack of jobs in their home country) to push them out.

In 2010, an estimated 900,000 adult Japanese Americans were in the U.S., according to the Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. Japanese Americans are the sixth-largest Asian-American group and represent about 7% of the adult Asian population in the U.S.

Characteristics (2010 ACS)

• Nativity and citizenship. Nearly a third (32%) of adult Japanese Americans in the United States are foreign born, compared with 74% of adult Asian Americans and 16% of the adult U.S. population overall. A majority of Japanese adults are U.S. citizens (79%), higher than the share among overall adult Asian population (70%) and lower than the national share (91%).
• Language. A substantial majority of Japanese Americans (82%) speak English proficiently, compared with 63% of all Asian Americans and 90% of the U.S. population overall.
• Age. The median age of adult Japanese Americans is 47, higher than for all adult Asian Americans (41) and the national median (45).
• Marital status. Slightly more than half of adult Japanese Americans (53%) are married, a share lower than for all Asian Americans (59%) but slightly higher than for the nation (51%).
• Fertility. The share of Japanese-American women ages 18 to 44 who gave birth in the 12 months prior to the American Community Survey was 6.0%; this is lower than the comparable share among Asian-American women overall (6.8%) and the national share (7.1%). About 20% of Japanese-American women who gave birth in the previous 12 months were unmarried, a higher share than for all comparable Asian-American women (15%) but lower than the national share (37%).
• Educational attainment. Among Japanese Americans ages 25 and older, more than four-in-ten (46%) have obtained at least a bachelor’s degree. This is slightly lower than the Asian-American share (49%) and significantly higher than the national share (28%).
• Income. Median annual personal earnings for Japanese-American full-time, year-round workers are $54,000, higher than for all Asian Americans ($48,000) and for all U.S. adults ($40,000). Among households, the median annual income for Japanese Americans is $65,390, slightly lower than for all Asian-American households ($66,000) but higher than for all U.S. households ($49,800).
• Homeownership. More than six-in-ten Japanese Americans (64%) own a home, compared with 58% of all Asian Americans and 65% of the U.S. population overall.
• Poverty status. The share of adult Japanese Americans who live in poverty is 8%, lower than the shares of all Asian Americans (12%) and of the U.S. population overall (13%).
• Regional dispersion. Japanese Americans are highly concentrated in the Western states. More than seven-in-ten (71%) adult Japanese Americans live in the West, compared with 47% of Asian Americans and 23% of the U.S. population overall.

Attitudes

Here are a few key findings from the 2012 Asian-American survey about Japanese Americans compared with other major U.S. Asian groups:

• Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Japanese Americans are among the most comfortable with intergroup marriage: 71% of Japanese Americans say they would be “very comfortable” if their child married someone from another country of origin group, and 67% would be “very comfortable” if their child married a non-Asian. In addition, among Asian newlyweds, Japanese Americans have the highest rate of intermarriage.
• Japanese Americans are more accepting of homosexuality than U.S. Asians from most other groups; 68% of Japanese Americans say homosexuality should be accepted by society; 22% say it should be discouraged. They also are among the most supportive of legal abortion: 68% of Japanese Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most cases; 20% say it should be illegal in all or most cases.
• Across U.S. Asian groups, Japanese Americans are among the most likely to say parents from their own country of origin put about the right amount of pressure on their children to do well in school. Six-in-ten (60%) Japanese Americans say parents from their group take the right approach with their children, 25% say they put too much pressure and 7% say they do not put enough pressure on children to do well in school.

Other Asian Americans

Asian Americans are a diverse group, and they differ in language, culture, and length of residence in the U.S. In addition to the six major Asian groups (each with overall population more than 1 million), there are numerous other smaller Asian groups. Together, they represent 1.9 million adults.

Looking at the total population, including children, the 2010 Census counted seven additional Asian groups that each include more than 100,000 people. They are Bangladeshis, Burmese, Cambodians, Hmong, Laotians, Pakistanis and Thais. (Another group, Indonesians, numbered 95,000 in the 2010 Census.)

Although variation exists among these subgroups, as a combined population other Asians are somewhat younger and less well off than other Asian Americans. The share in poverty—nearly 17%—is markedly higher than for all Asians.

Their median age is 37, compared with 41 for all Asian Americans. Their personal earnings, median household income and homeownership rate are lower than for all Asian Americans; their likelihood of poverty and unemployment is higher. However, their citizenship and English proficiency rates are similar.

Additional Tables

I. Trend for Overall and Foreign-born Asian Population, 1980-2010

II. Education Characteristics of Recent Immigrants

III. Native- vs. Foreign-born Asian Americans

IV. Employment and Family Structure

V. Characteristics of Smaller U.S. Asian Subgroups, 2010

Chapter 2: Life in the United States

Most Asian Americans feel good about their lives in the U.S. They see themselves as having achieved economic prosperity on the strength of hard work, a character trait they say is much more prevalent among Asian Americans than among the rest of the U.S. population. Most say they are better off than their parents were at a comparable age. And among the foreign born, very few say that if they had to do it all over again, they would stay in their home country rather than emigrate to the U.S.

As is customary for an immigrant group, their sense of identity in their new country is evolving. Roughly three-in-four adult Asian Americans were born outside of the U.S.; among this group, 60% say they see themselves as “very different” from the typical American. However, among Asian Americans who were born in the U.S., the pattern reverses: Roughly two-thirds (65%) say they consider themselves to be typical Americans.

Meanwhile, the “Asian American” label has not been embraced by any group of U.S. Asians, be they native born or foreign born. Most describe themselves by their country of origin, such as “Chinese American,” “Filipino American” or “Indian American,” rather than by a pan-Asian label. Overall, just one-in-five (19%) say they most often describe themselves as Asian or Asian American and even fewer (14%) say they describe themselves as just plain American.

This section examines how satisfied Asian Americans are with their lives—both personal and financial—and the extent to which they value hard work. It also looks at the topics of identity, language and assimilation. And it explores similarities and differences on these measures among the six major U.S. Asian groups.

Upward Mobility, Widespread Satisfaction

More than eight-in-ten Asian Americans (82%) say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their lives; only 13% are dissatisfied. When compared with the general public, Asian Americans are slightly more satisfied with their lives. In a July 2011 Pew Research survey, 75% of all American adults said they were satisfied with the way things were going in their lives.

There is little variance in this measure across gender, age and education attainment. And Asian Americans from the six major country of origin groups express roughly equal levels of satisfaction.

This high level of satisfaction may be tied in part to a shared experience of upward mobility. Nearly three-quarters of Asian Americans (73%) say they enjoy a better standard of living than their parents did at a comparable age. An additional 15% say their standard of living is about the same as that of their parents. Only one-in-ten say their standard of living is worse than their parents’ standard of living had been at a comparable age.

Moreover, about half of Asian Americans (49%) say their current standard of living is “much better” than their parents’ was at a comparable age. In this regard, Asian Americans are much more upbeat than the general public or Hispanics. In a 2011 Pew Research Center survey, only 36% of all American adults said their standard of living was much better than their parents’ standard of living had been at a comparable age. According to a 2011 Pew Hispanic Center survey, among Hispanics—the other major group of recent immigrants—a similar share (35%) said their standard of living was much better than their parents’ had been.

Asian immigrants are somewhat more likely than U.S.-born Asians to say their standard of living exceeds that of their parents. Among all foreign-born Asian Americans, 52% say their standard of living is much better than their parents’ had been. This compares with 42% of U.S.-born Asians. There is no significant difference between the most recent immigrants and those who arrived in the U.S. before 2000. Among Japanese Americans, the pattern is different: Japanese immigrants are less likely than those born in the U.S. to say their standard of living is much better than their parents’ had been at their age.

Education is not strongly linked to assessments of upward mobility. Asian Americans who are college graduates and those with less education are equally likely to say their current standard of living is much better than their parents’ standard of living had been at a comparable age.

There is some variance in this measure across U.S. Asian groups. About half or more Americans of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian and Korean origins say they enjoy a much better standard of living than their parents did at a comparable age. Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans are somewhat less likely to say that.

Respondents were also asked to predict how their children’s future standard of living will compare with their own. Overall, roughly half of all Asian Americans (53%) believe that when their children reach the age they are now, they will enjoy a better standard of living (31% say much better, 22% somewhat better). About one-in-five (19%) expect their children’s standard of living will be about the same as theirs is now. And the same share believes their children’s standard of living will be worse than theirs is now.

While Asian Americans are more likely than Hispanics to say their own standard of living exceeds that of their parents at a comparable age, Hispanics are more upbeat than Asian Americans about their children’s future well-being. Fully two-thirds of Hispanics (66%) believe their children will enjoy a better standard of living when they reach their parents’ age. Four-in-ten expect their children’s standard of living will be much better, and 26% believe it will be somewhat better. The general public is more in sync with Asian Americans on this measure—according to a December 2011 Pew Research survey, some 28% believe their children’s standard of living will be much better than theirs is.

On average, Hispanics have lower household incomes and lower educational attainment than do Asian Americans. In addition, their ratings of their current standard of living compared with their parents’ standard of living at a similar age are lower than those of Asians. When it comes to the future, however, expectations tend to have an inverse relationship to socio-economic status—meaning that those at the lower end of the income and educational ladder have higher expectations for their children’s futures relative to their own current circumstances.

Among Asian Americans, immigrants are somewhat more likely than those who were born in the U.S. to say their children will enjoy a much better standard of living than their parents currently do (34% vs. 20%).

In addition, there is some variance on this measure across socio-economic groups. Asian Americans without a college degree are somewhat more likely than those who have graduated from college to say they expect their children to have a much higher standard of living than they currently do (37% vs. 26%). In addition, Asian Americans with annual household incomes of less than $30,000 are more likely than middle-income and upper-income Asians to say their children will have a much higher standard of living (42% of those making less than $30,000 a year vs. 29% of those making between $30,000 and $74,999 and 24% of those making $75,000 or more).

Among the U.S. Asian groups, Vietnamese Americans are the most upbeat about their children’s futures. Fully 48% believe their children’s standard of living will be much better than theirs is when their children reach a comparable age. Vietnamese Americans’ attitudes about their children’s futures may be tied in part to their own socio-economic standing. Of the six major Asian-Americans groups, Vietnamese are the least likely to have a college degree, and, aside from Korean Americans, they have the lowest median annual household income. Americans of Japanese, Filipino and Chinese origins are among the least likely to say their children will enjoy a much better standard of living (19%, 25% and 26%, respectively). Among Korean Americans, 38% believe their children will be better off; among Indian Americans, 32% say the same.

Asian Americans Prospering in the U.S.

Even in these tough economic times, Asian Americans are relatively satisfied with their own personal financial situations. When asked whether they are in excellent shape, good shape, only fair shape or poor shape financially, about half of all Asian Americans say they are in excellent (12%) or good (40%) shape. Slightly less than half say they are in only fair (36%) or poor (11%) shape.

Overall, Asian Americans have a much more positive outlook on their personal finances than the general public or Hispanics. Only 35% of all American adults say they are in excellent or good shape financially, and an even smaller share of Hispanics (24%) say the same.

Asian Americans’ upbeat assessment of their personal finances is most likely linked to their overall affluence. As a group, Asian Americans have a significantly higher median annual income than all American adults. According to data from the Census Bureau’s 2010 American Community Survey (ACS), the median household income for all Asian Americans in 2010 was $68,000. This compares with $50,000 for all adults, regardless of race or ethnicity. In addition, Asian Americans have a lower unemployment rate than members of the general public.

Among Asian Americans, those who were born in the U.S. are only slightly more likely than those born outside of the U.S. to describe their personal financial situation as excellent or good (56% vs. 50%). This is a sharp contrast to the pattern seen among Hispanics. According to a 2011 Pew Hispanic Center survey, U.S.-born Hispanics are nearly twice as likely as the foreign born to say their finances are in excellent or good shape (33% vs. 17%). Among foreign-born Hispanics, fully 83% describe their personal financial situation as only fair or poor.

Personal financial ratings vary widely across U.S. Asian groups. Indian Americans are the most likely to describe their personal financial situation as excellent or good (67%). Indian Americans also have the highest median income of the six largest U.S. Asian groups. Among Japanese Americans and Chinese Americans, more than half say their finances are in excellent or good shape (57% of Japanese and 55% of Chinese). Korean Americans are somewhat less likely to rate their finances as excellent or good (45%). Half of Filipino Americans rate their finances as excellent or good. Vietnamese Americans are the least likely to do so (29%).

Who’s Hardworking?

In general Americans tend to value hard work and believe that it can lead to success. Asian Americans are no exception. In fact, they appear to be even bigger proponents of hard work when compared with all American adults. The survey asked respondents which of the following two statements came closer to their view: Most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard, or hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people. Roughly two-thirds of Asian Americans (69%) chose the first statement (most people can get ahead if they’re willing to work hard), while 27% chose the second statement (hard work is no guarantee of success).

The general public also leans toward the first statement, but by a somewhat less decisive margin. Among all American adults, 58% agree that most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard, while 40% say hard work is no guarantee of success. For their part, Hispanics come closer to Asian Americans in this regard. Three-in-four Hispanics say most people can get ahead with hard work; 21% say hard work doesn’t guarantee success.

While solid majorities of each of the U.S. Asian groups agree that hard work pays off, there is some variation across groups. Vietnamese Americans are the most likely to agree that most people can get ahead if they work hard (83%). Americans of Japanese, Chinese and Korean origins are somewhat less likely to agree.

Overall, there is no significant gap in views on hard work between native-born and foreign-born Asian Americans. However, Japanese Americans born in the U.S. are much more likely than those born overseas to say hard work pays off.

Perhaps more interesting than Asian Americans’ views on the value of hard work are their views about who is hardworking. Asian-American survey respondents were asked whether Americans in general are very hardworking and whether people from their own country of origin are very hardworking. To avoid having respondents make a direct comparison between Americans in general and their own native or ancestral group, one question was asked near the beginning of the survey, and the other question was asked near the end of the survey.

On balance, most Asian Americans see Americans in general as hardworking. Thinking about the country as a whole, some 57% say they would describe Americans as very hardworking; 35% say they would not describe Americans this way.

However, Asian Americans’ views about their own group’s work ethic are dramatically different. Respondents were asked whether they would describe their own ethnic group or country of origin group as very hardworking. For example, Chinese Americans were asked how they would describe Chinese Americans, and Filipino Americans were asked how they would describe Filipino Americans. Overall, 93% of Asian Americans said they would describe their own group as very hardworking. Only 4% said they would not describe their own group this way.

Findings on this measure are very consistent across the U.S. Asian groups. Majorities of roughly 90% or more of the six major Asian groups say their individual group is very hardworking (97% of Vietnamese say this).

There is more variance in views about how hardworking most Americans are. Korean Americans and Chinese Americans are the least likely to say that Americans in general are very hardworking (46% of Koreans and 48% of Chinese). Vietnamese Americans and Indian Americans are among the most likely to say Americans in general are very hardworking (70% of Vietnamese and 64% of Indians).

Are Asian Americans a “Model Minority”?

As a group, Asian Americans have sometimes been described as a “model minority.” The term, first used by sociologist William Petersen in a 1966 New York Times Magazine article to describe Japanese Americans, implies that Asian Americans have been more successful than other racial or ethnic minority groups in the U.S. This perception is based in part on demographic indicators such as educational attainment and income, and in part on perceptions about Asians’ values and work ethic.

However, there is no clear consensus among Asian Americans regarding how they measure up to other minority groups. Some 45% say that Asian Americans, when compared with other racial and ethnic minority groups, have been about equally successful. Roughly the same share (43%) say Asian Americans have been more successful than other minority groups. Very few (5%) say Asian Americans have been less successful.

Opinion about the relative success of Asian Americans varies somewhat by age. Among young Asian-American adults (ages 18 to 34), 51% say as a group Asian Americans have been about as successful as other minority groups, while 37% say they have been more successful. By contrast, those ages 35 and older are more evenly divided on the issue: 47% say Asian Americans have been more successful than other minority groups, while 42% say Asian Americans have been equally successful.

Asian Americans with a higher annual household income are somewhat more likely than others to say, on the whole, that Asian Americans have been more successful than other minority groups in the U.S. Among those with incomes of $75,000 or higher, 53% say Asian Americans have been more successful than other groups. This compares with 39% of those with annual incomes of less than $75,000.

U.S.-born and foreign-born Asian Americans do not differ significantly in their views on this issue. Among the native born, 48% say Asian Americans have been about equally successful as other minority groups, while 40% say they have been more successful. Among Asian immigrants, 45% say Asian Americans have been equally successful, and 44% say they have been more successful.

However, when the foreign-born group is divided into those who arrived in the U.S. in the past 12 years and those who came to the U.S. before 2000, significant differences emerge. Newer immigrants to the U.S. tend to think Asian Americans are just as successful as other minority groups (51%) rather than more successful (36%). Immigrants who arrived in the U.S. before 2000 are more inclined to say Asian Americans have had greater success in the U.S. than other minority groups (48%), than they are to say Asian Americans have been equally successful (42%).

In addition, there are significant differences of opinion across U.S. Asian groups. Indian Americans and Vietnamese Americans are among the most likely to say Asian Americans have been more successful than other U.S. minority groups. Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans are among the least likely to express this view. Among Filipino Americans, 57% say Asian Americans have been about as successful as other minority groups (the highest share among the six U.S. Asian groups).

Korean Americans (12%) are more likely than other Asian Americans to say Asians have been less successful than other minority groups in the U.S. Japanese Americans are evenly divided over how successful Asian Americans have been: 45% say they have been more successful than other minority groups, and a similar share (43%) say they have been about as successful as other minority groups.

The Asian-American immigrant experience has been different in many ways from the experience of Hispanic Americans. As the demographic data illustrate, Hispanics overall have struggled more than Asians economically, and they lag behind in terms of educational attainment. In addition, a larger share of Hispanic immigrants are in the U.S. illegally. When Hispanics themselves are asked to evaluate their success relative to other racial and minority groups in the U.S., they paint a much less positive picture than do Asian Americans.

In a 2011 Pew Hispanic Center survey of Hispanic Americans nationwide, a narrow majority (55%) said, compared with other U.S. minority groups, Hispanics have been about equally successful. However, only 17% said they have been more successful than other minority groups (compared with 43% of Asian Americans). And 22% of Hispanics said, as a group they have been less successful than other minorities (compared with only 5% of Asian Americans).

How Do Asian Americans Describe Themselves?

The U.S. Census Bureau defines “Asian” as “having origins in any of the original peoples of the Far East, Southeast Asia, or the Indian subcontinent.” This is a broad definition and encompasses groups with vastly different backgrounds—geographically, culturally and linguistically. Asian Americans are much more likely to identify themselves by their country of origin than by the broader label of Asian American.

Overall, 62% of Asian Americans say they most often describe themselves by using the country where they or their family originated (e.g., Chinese or Chinese American). One-in-five (19%) most often describe themselves as Asian or Asian American, and 14% most often describe themselves as American.

There is broad consistency across U.S. Asian groups on this measure. Majorities of each group say they describe themselves most often using their country of origin. Americans of Vietnamese, Korean and Filipino origins are more likely than other Asians to use their country of origin most often when describing themselves. Chinese Americans are slightly more likely than all other Asian Americans to say they describe themselves as Asian or Asian American (27% vs. 16% of all other Asian Americans).

The fact that so many Asian Americans identify with their home countries is not surprising, given that such a large share were born outside of the U.S. Among foreign-born Asian Americans, fully 69% say they describe themselves most often using a term that incorporates the country from which they emigrated, as in Korean American or Indian American.

Some 18% of foreign-born Asian Americans describe themselves using the Asian or Asian American label. Only 9% describe themselves most often as American. There is little difference in this regard between newer immigrants to the U.S. and those who arrived before 2000. Roughly seven-in-ten from each group say they most often describe themselves using the country from which they emigrated.

The pattern is much different among American-born Asian Americans. Fewer than half (43%) describe themselves most often using their ancestral country of origin, 22% describe themselves as Asian or Asian American, and 28% describe themselves as American. The identity gap between foreign-born and native-born Asian Americans can be seen within specific groups as well. For example, among Filipino Americans, 77% of the foreign born most often identify themselves as Filipino American, while only 51% of the native born identify themselves that way. Similarly among Chinese Americans, 67% of the foreign born most often identify themselves as Chinese American, compared with 35% of those born in the U.S.

Among the U.S. Asian groups, Japanese Americans (21%) and Filipino Americans (19%) are the most likely to describe themselves simply as American. Vietnamese Americans are among the least likely to describe themselves that way (6%). For the other major U.S. Asian groups, between 11% and 17% describe themselves most often as American.

When Hispanic Americans were asked a question with similar wording, they too tended to identify more with their country of origin than with the broader “Hispanic” label. In the 2011 Pew Hispanic Center survey, 51% of Hispanic Americans said they most often describe themselves using their country of origin (e.g. Mexican or Salvadoran). Roughly a quarter (24%) said they describe themselves most often as Latino or Hispanic, and 21% said they describe themselves as American.

Typical American or Very Different?

Asian Americans were asked if they think of themselves as a typical American or very different from a typical American. On balance, they are more likely to see themselves as very different (53%) than as typical (39%).

Views on this question are fairly consistent across major demographic variables. Both Asian-American men and women are more likely to see themselves as very different from the typical American than they are to see themselves as typical Americans. Similarly, young and old Asian Americans see themselves as more different than typical.

In addition, among Asian Americans who have a college degree and those who do not, about half say they see themselves as very different from the typical American, while about four-in-ten see themselves as a typical Americans. Opinion differs somewhat by income. Asian Americans with annual household incomes of less than $30,000 are more likely than middle- and high-income Asian Americans to say they see themselves as very different from the typical American (61%, compared with 50% of those with annual incomes of $30,000 or more).

Asian Americans who live in the West, the region with the highest concentration of Asians, are more likely than those living in other parts of the U.S. to think of themselves as typical Americans (44% vs. 34%). Still, 49% of Asian Americans living in the West say they are very different from typical Americans.

The extent to which Asian Americans feel like typical Americans varies across U.S. Asian groups. Japanese and Filipino Americans are more likely than Americans of Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian or Korean origins to say they think of themselves as typical Americans. About half of Japanese and Filipino Americans say they are typical Americans, compared with 36% or less of each of the other groups.

Whether an individual was born in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. is strongly linked to these attitudes. Native-born Asian Americans are much more likely than those who were born outside the U.S. to see themselves as typical Americans (65% vs. 30%).

This pattern holds across U.S. Asian groups as well. Among Japanese Americans, 70% of those born in the U.S. say they think of themselves as typical Americans. This compares with only 20% of Japanese immigrants. Similarly, among Chinese Americans, 66% of the native born consider themselves typical Americans, compared with 26% of the foreign born.

The most recent immigrants are among the least likely to say they see themselves this way. Among those who came to the U.S. between 2000 and 2012, only 22% say they see themselves as typical Americans (70% say they are very different from typical Americans). Among those who immigrated to the U.S. before 2000, 34% see themselves as typical Americans (56% very different).

Some of the group differences on this measure are most likely related to nativity. Indian Americans are among the least likely to see themselves as typical Americans, and they are among the most likely to be recent immigrants to the U.S. Fully one-third of the Indian Americans surveyed arrived in the U.S. within the past 12 years; only 11% were born in the U.S. At the other extreme, Japanese Americans are among the most likely to see themselves as typical Americans, and they are by far the most likely to have been born in the U.S. Roughly six-in-ten Japanese Americans surveyed were born in America; only 6% arrived in the U.S. in 2000 or later.

Overall, Asian Americans are somewhat less likely than Hispanics to see themselves as typical Americans (39% vs. 47%). However, this is likely due to the fact that more Asian Americans than Hispanics were born outside the U.S. After controlling for nativity, the responses of Asian Americans and Hispanics are quite similar. Among Hispanics who were born in the U.S., 66% see themselves as typical Americans. An almost identical share of U.S.-born Asian Americans (65%) say the same. Among Hispanics who were born outside of the U.S., only three-in-ten (31%) see themselves as typical Americans; 30% of foreign-born Asian Americans say the same.

The Importance of Language

For most immigrants, an important part of assimilating to the U.S. is learning to speak English. Many immigrants must balance the need to adapt to the language and culture of the U.S. with their desire to maintain ties to their native country. A strong majority of Asian Americans (80%) say it is at least somewhat important to them that future generations of Asians living in the U.S. be able to speak their native or ancestral language. However, less than half (45%) say this is “very important,” and there is quite a bit of variation across U.S. Asian groups. In addition, relatively few U.S.-born Asian Americans are proficient in their ancestral language. Only 14% say they can carry on a conversation in that language very well.

In thinking about the importance of language preservation, respondents were asked specifically about future generations of Asians from their own country of origin. For example, Chinese Americans were asked how important it is to them that future generations of Chinese living in the U.S. be able to speak Chinese. The survey finds that maintaining ties to their native language is more important to Americans of Korean, Vietnamese and Chinese origins than it is to those of Filipino, Indian and Japanese origins.

Among Korean Americans, 62% say that it is very important to them that future generations of Koreans living in the U.S. speak Korean. Roughly the same proportion of Vietnamese Americans (60%) say it is very important to them that future generations speak Vietnamese. And 52% of Chinese Americans say it is very important that future generations speak Chinese.

The three remaining groups place less value on maintaining ties to their native language. Among Filipino Americans, only 38% say it is very important that future generations of Filipinos speak Tagalog or another Filipino language. While the Philippines became a sovereign country in 1946, U.S. control over the islands from 1898 to 1946 greatly influenced the way that language developed. Many Filipino Americans spoke English long before they came to the U.S. As a result, they may be less wedded to a native Filipino language.

Only three-in-ten Indian Americans (29%) say it is very important to them that future generation of Indians living in this country speak Hindi or another Indian language. There is a great diversity of languages spoken in India. Hindi is the principal official language, and English is a secondary official language. The Constitution of India recognizes more than 20 major languages. In addition, there are hundreds of dialects. Given this diversity of language, many Indians who immigrate to the U.S. may see limited utility in maintaining ties to a language that is not widely spoken in this country.

Among all U.S.-born Asian Americans, only 32% say it is very important to them that future generations speak their native tongue. By contrast, among foreign-born Asian Americans, 49% say this is very important to them. Japanese Americans are among the least likely to place a high level of importance on keeping the Japanese language alive in the U.S. Only one-in-four say it is very important to them that future generations of Japanese living in the U.S. be able to speak Japanese. This may be related in part to the fact that relatively few Japanese Americans were born outside of the U.S. (32%).

Mastering English and Keeping Native Languages Alive

Foreign-born survey respondents were asked to assess their own English proficiency. Half of all foreign-born Asian Americans (49%) say they can carry on a conversation in English “very well”—both understanding and speaking. Some 26% say they can do this pretty well. An additional 25% can do this just a little or not at all. Not surprisingly, immigrants who arrived in the U.S. more recently are less proficient in English. Among those who emigrated within the past 12 years, only 39% say they can carry on a conversation in English very well. This compares with 52% who came to the U.S. before 2000.

The American Community Survey includes a question about English proficiency for all Asian Americans, whether native born or foreign born. According to the 2010 ACS, 53% of foreign-born Asian Americans either speak only English at home or speak another language at home but say they speak English “very well.”

Among the Pew Research survey respondents, older foreign-born Asian Americans are somewhat less likely than their younger counterparts to be proficient in English. Among those ages 55 and older, 35% say they can carry on a conversation in English very well. This compares with 56% of those under age 55. There is a large education gap as well. More than six-in-ten Asian-American immigrants (63%) who have graduated from college say they can carry on a conversation in English very well, compared with only 31% of those with less education.

Among the foreign born, there is wide variation across U.S. Asian groups. Immigrants from India and the Philippines—both countries where English is widely spoken—give themselves the highest marks for their ability to converse in English. Roughly seven-in-ten foreign-born Indian Americans (72%) say they can carry on a conversation in English very well, as do 66% of foreign-born Filipinos.

Chinese, Japanese and Korean immigrants are less likely than Indians or Filipinos to say they can converse fluently in English. Roughly four-in-ten Chinese (43%) and Japanese (39%) immigrants say they can carry on a conversation in English very well, as do 30% of Koreans. Vietnamese immigrants are among the least likely to say they are fluent in English. Only 21% of foreign-born Vietnamese Americans say they can carry on a conversation in English very well.

Among all Asian immigrants, those who are less fluent in English are somewhat more likely to place a high value on maintaining their native language. Fully 57% of those who say they cannot carry on a conversation in English very well say it is very important that future generations of their ethnic or country of origin group who live in the U.S. be able to speak their native language. By contrast, among Asian immigrants who say they can converse very well in English, only 41% place a high value on future generations continuing to speak their native language.

For native-born Asian Americans, the challenge is not mastering English, but rather maintaining some connection to the language spoken in their country of origin. Relatively few U.S.-born Asian Americans are fluent in their native or ancestral language. Asian Americans who were born in the U.S. were asked to assess their ability to converse in the language most closely identified with their country of origin. For example, Chinese Americans were asked how well they can carry on a conversation in Chinese, both understanding and speaking. Overall, only 14% of respondents said they can carry on a conversation in the language of their country of origin very well, and 19% said they can carry on a conversation in that language pretty well. Fully two-thirds said they can carry on a conversation in their native or ancestral language “just a little” (32%) or “not at all” (34%).

Younger, native-born Asian Americans are more likely than their older counterparts to say they can carry on a conversation in the language spoken in their family’s country of origin. Among those under age 55, 37% say they can converse very well or pretty well. Among those ages 55 and older, only 16% say the same.

Asian Americans, Hispanics and Language

When compared with Hispanics, Asian Americans place much less emphasis on maintaining ties to their native or ancestral languages. While a strong majority say it is at least somewhat important to them that future generations be able to speak the languages of their Asian countries of origin, only 45% say this is very important. Among Hispanics, fully 75% say it is very important to them that future generations be able to speak Spanish.

Hispanics are more united in their views on this topic, just as they are more united in their linguistic history. Though Hispanics come to the U.S. from more than 20 different nations, all of those nations are Spanish-speaking. This common bond is something Asian-American immigrants do not share—coming from a host of countries with their own unique linguistic traditions.

Among foreign-born immigrants, Asians are much more likely than Hispanics to speak fluent English. Roughly half of Asian immigrants (49%) say they can carry on a conversation in English very well. Only 25% of Hispanic immigrants say the same. Among Hispanic immigrants, a solid majority (62%) say they can carry on a conversation in English just a little or not at all (compared with 25% of Asian immigrants).

While relatively few U.S.-born Asians say they can speak the language of their ethnic heritage, U.S.-born Hispanics remain closely connected to their Spanish-language origins. Four-in-ten U.S.-born Hispanics say they can carry on a conversation in Spanish very well (compared with only 14% of U.S.-born Asians who can do so in the language of their country of origin).

Chapter 3: Intergroup Relations

Asian Americans report a generally positive set of attitudes and experiences on a wide range of measures that track how they interact with other racial and ethnic groups. Their most distinctive pattern comes in the most intimate realm of intergroup relations: marriage. Fully 28% of Asian-American newlyweds in 2010 married a non-Asian, the highest rate of “out marriage” among the four major racial and ethnic groups in the U.S.

Asian Americans also reach across racial lines in other ways. For example, just four-in-ten (41%) say that a majority of their friends share their same Asian heritage. This figure rises to nearly half (49%) among Asians who are immigrants but drops to just 17% among those who were born in the United States.

Asked to assess how well they believe Asians and other racial or ethnic groups in the U.S. get along, survey respondents offer a mixed evaluation. Asian Americans are most positive about relations with whites and other U.S. Asian groups. They are less positive about relations with Hispanics and most negative about relations with blacks. Korean Americans have an especially negative view of group relations with blacks—50% say the two groups do not get along well; just 4% say they get along “very well” and 39% say they get along “pretty well.”

Native-born Asian Americans tend to see intergroup relations in a more positive light than do foreign-born Asian Americans. The same pattern holds for attitudes toward intermarriage; foreign-born Asian Americans have mixed views about this phenomenon, while overwhelming shares of the native born say they would be “very comfortable” if a child of theirs married someone outside their own Asian group.

In general, Asian Americans register fairly low levels of concern about group discrimination. Only about one-in-eight (13%) say they consider discrimination against their Asian group to be a major problem, while 48% say it is a minor problem and 35% say it isn’t a problem. (While question wording differs somewhat, findings from other Pew Research surveys suggest that blacks and Hispanics are much more inclined than Asians to see discrimination against their group as a problem.) Also, about six-in-ten Asian Americans say that being a member of their racial group makes no difference when it comes to getting into college or finding a job. Of the remainder who believe it does make a difference, slightly more say it helps than say it hurts.

The rest of this chapter examines attitudes about intergroup relations from multiple perspectives. It provides breakdowns among the six largest Asian country of origin groups; among the native born and the foreign born; and wherever relevant by age and levels of education.

Social Integration

About four-in-ten (41%) Asian Americans say that all (6%) or most (35%) of their friends in the U.S. are from the same Asian country of origin, while 58% say that some, hardly any or none of their friends share their Asian country of origin.

Immigrants are more likely than those born in the U.S. to report that all or most of their friends are from their same Asian country of origin group. About half (49%) of foreign-born Asian Americans say all or most of their friends share their Asian country of origin, compared with 17% among those born in the U.S.

Those with better English skills have a more mixed social circle. Among the foreign born who speak English very well, 35% say that all or most of their friends share their country of origin; this compares with 64% among those with weaker English skills.

Older Asian Americans more so than younger adults have all or most of their friends within the same country of origin group. About half (49%) of Asian Americans ages 55 and older say all or most of their friends share their country of origin. This compares with 34% among younger adults (ages 18 to 34).

There are no differences between men and women in this regard.

There is some variance across U.S. Asian groups in the composition of their social networks. Korean Americans are especially likely to have all or most of their friends from the same heritage (58%); by contrast, just a fifth (21%) of Japanese Americans—a majority of whom are native born—say that all or most of their friends share the same heritage. Chinese Americans fall in the middle, with 45% having all or most of their friends of Chinese heritage. There are large differences between native- and foreign-born Chinese Americans, however. Among the native born, 14% say that all or most of their friends are Chinese American; this compares with 55% among Chinese immigrants. The same pattern occurs for native- and foreign-born Filipino Americans and to a lesser degree among native- and foreign-born Japanese Americans. Other U.S. Asian groups do not have a large enough sample of native-born respondents for analysis.

Intergroup Relations

Do Asian Americans get along with other racial and ethnic groups? The Pew Research survey asked respondents to rate how well members of their Asian group (such as Vietnamese Americans, Korean Americans) get along with each of four groups: whites, blacks, Hispanics and Asian Americans from different countries.

Asian Americans are most positive about relations with whites and other U.S. Asian groups. They are less positive about relations with Hispanics and most negative about relations with blacks.

About a quarter (26%) of Asian Americans say their Asian country of origin group gets along “very well” with whites, 61% say their group gets along “pretty well” and 9% say their group gets along “not too” or “not at all” well. Relations across U.S. Asian groups are seen in similar terms: a quarter (24%) say their group gets along very well with Asian Americans from different countries, 59% say pretty well and 11% say not too well or not at all well.

Intergroup relations with Hispanics are a bit less positive. A 56% majority of Asian Americans see their group and Hispanics as getting along pretty well while roughly equal proportions see relations more positively (16%) or more negatively (19%) than that.

Relations with blacks are considered the most negative of the set. A plurality (48%) of Asian Americans says their group gets along with blacks pretty well, 15% say very well, and about three-in-ten (28%) say not too well or not at all well.

U.S.-born Asians tend to give more positive assessments than the foreign born about the relationship between their country of origin group and other racial and ethnic groups. For example, 31% of native-born Asian Americans say their country of origin group gets along “very well” with whites, compared with 25% of foreign-born Asian Americans who say the same.

A 2009 Pew Research survey among whites, blacks and Hispanics in the general public asked a similar set of questions. A majority of whites and blacks in the general public consider their racial group as getting along “pretty well” with the other racial group (either blacks or whites, respectively). Among those who don’t say “pretty well,” the balance of opinion is slightly more negative than more positive for both whites’ assessment of their relationship with blacks and blacks’ assessment of their relationship with whites.

Hispanics’ views of relations with both whites and blacks are more negative, however. Among Hispanics, two-in-ten say their ethnic group gets along very well with whites, 36% say the two groups get along pretty well, and four-in-ten (41%) say the two groups get along not too well or not at all well.

A sizable minority of Hispanics are negative in their assessments of relations within the Latino community. About a fifth (22%) say Hispanics from different countries get along very well, four-in-ten (40%) say pretty well and 35% say Hispanics from different countries get along not too well or not at all well. By comparison, Asian Americans are more upbeat in their assessments of relations across Asian groups.

Six U.S. Asian Subgroups

Turning to intergroup relations among each of the six largest U.S. Asian groups, Filipino Americans tend to be more positive about their group’s relations with the four other groups. Korean Americans and Vietnamese Americans are the most negative in their assessments of relations with whites, blacks and Hispanics.

Among Filipino Americans, about a third (36%) see their group as getting along very well with whites, 57% say the two groups get along pretty well and just 6% say not too well or not at all well. Evaluations of relations among Filipino Americans and other U.S. Asian groups are similarly positive (34% very well, 50% pretty well and 12% not too well or not at all well). About three-in-ten Filipino Americans say their group gets along very well with Hispanics and blacks (30% and 27%, respectively).

Indian Americans are more positive about relations between their group and whites than they are about relations with other racial or ethnic groups. About a third (36%) say Indian Americans get along with whites very well, and an additional 55% say the two groups get along pretty well; just 7% say not too well or not at all well. Indian Americans are less likely to rate relations with other groups as strongly positive. A quarter (25%) say Indian Americans get along with other Asian groups very well, 21% say the same about relations with Hispanics and with blacks. Indian Americans are more negative in their assessments of Indian-black relations than they are about Indian-white relations. About a fifth (23%) says Indian Americans and blacks get along not too well or not at all well; 7% say the same about Indian Americans and whites.

Among Japanese Americans, about a third (32%) say their country of origin group gets along with whites very well, 59% say the groups get along pretty well and just 3% say not too well or not at all well. A quarter (26%) say Japanese Americans get along with other Asian groups in the U.S. very well, 56% say pretty well and 8% say not too well or not at all well. About one-in-six (17%) Japanese Americans say their group gets along with blacks very well, half (50%) say pretty well and 15% say not too well or not at all well. The remainder of 17% gave no rating. Similarly, 16% say Japanese Americans and Hispanics get along very well, about 58% say pretty well and 12% say the two groups get along not too well or not at all well, with the remainder of 15% giving no rating.

Among Vietnamese Americans, about twice as many say their country of origin group and whites get along very well (23%) as not too well or not at all well (10%); 62% say the groups get along pretty well. Similar percentages say the same about how well Vietnamese Americans get along with other Asian groups in the U.S. (21% very well, 61% pretty well, 14% not too well or not at all well). Vietnamese Americans are more negative about relations with both Hispanics and blacks. Roughly one-in-ten (13%) Vietnamese Americans say their group gets along with Hispanics very well, 43% say pretty well and a third (33%) say not too well or not at all well. Similarly, 12% say Vietnamese Americans and blacks get along very well, about four-in-ten (41%) say they get along pretty well and a roughly equal portion (40%) say the two groups get along not too well or not at all well.

Chinese Americans are more positive in their assessments of relations with whites and with Asian Americans from different countries than with either Hispanics or blacks. Roughly two-thirds of Chinese Americans say their group gets along with whites pretty well (69%), an additional 17% say very well and just 8% say not too well or not at all well. Similarly, 66% say Chinese Americans get along with other Asian groups in the U.S. pretty well, 18% say very well and 10% say not too well or not at all well. Chinese Americans are less positive about relations with Hispanics and blacks. More say Chinese Americans and Hispanics get along not too well or not at all well than say they get along very well (20% and 9%, respectively); six-in-ten (60%) say these groups get along pretty well. And when it comes to relations between Chinese Americans and blacks, a 47% plurality say the two groups get along pretty well, a third (33%) say the groups get along not too well or not at all well and just 7% say the two groups get along very well.

Compared with other U.S. Asian groups, Korean Americans have an especially negative view of relations with blacks. They (along with Vietnamese Americans) are more negative than other U.S. Asian groups in their assessments of relations with Hispanics. About two-thirds (68%) say Korean Americans get along with other U.S. Asian groups pretty well, 14% say very well and 12% say not too well or not at all well. Assessments of the relationship between Korean Americans and whites are similar; 13% say whites and Korean Americans get along very well, 64% say pretty well and 17% say not too well or not at all well. Just 3% say Korean Americans and Hispanics get along very well, 58% say pretty well and 27% say not too well or not at all well. Relations with blacks are seen in more negative terms. Just 4% say Korean Americans and blacks get along very well, four-in-ten (39%) say pretty well and half (50%) say the two groups get along not too well or not at all well.

Looking across these ratings, Filipino Americans give the most positive assessments about intergroup relations and Korean Americans give the least positive.

Intergroup Marriage

Another way to consider intergroup relations is by looking at the behaviors and attitudes of Asian Americans toward marriage across racial and ethnic lines. Pew Research analyses of the U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey data on interracial marriage find that Asian Americans are more likely to marry across racial and ethnic lines than are whites, blacks or Hispanics.

Among all Asian-American newlyweds from 2008 to 2010, 29% married someone who is not Asian and 6% married someone from a different Asian country of origin.

The propensity to marry across Asian ethnic and racial lines varies widely among U.S. Asian groups. Indian Americans are least likely to marry someone outside their country of origin or racial group. Just 12% of new marriages with an Indian American are to someone of another race and 2% are to non-Indian Asians.

Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans are most likely to marry someone who is not Asian. Among new marriages with a Japanese American, more than half (55%) are to a non-Asian and 9% are to an Asian from a different country of origin. About half (48%) of new marriages of Filipino Americans are to a non-Asian; 5% are to an Asian from a different country of origin.

Attitudes about Intergroup Marriage

Attitudes about intergroup marriage are mostly consonant with the higher interracial and interethnic marriage rates of Asian Americans. The Pew Research survey asked respondents to rate how comfortable they would be if a child of theirs married someone of a differing background.

About half (54%) of Asian Americans would be “very comfortable” if their child married someone outside of their country of origin, about three-in-ten (28%) would be somewhat comfortable with this and just 13% would be not too comfortable or not at all comfortable.

The findings are similar when considering a child’s marriage to an Asian from a different country of origin. About half (52%) would be very comfortable with this, three-in-ten (31%) would be somewhat comfortable and 13% would be not too comfortable or not at all comfortable.

About half of Asian Americans (49%) would be very comfortable if their child married a non-Asian, 29% would be somewhat comfortable and 18% would be not too comfortable or not at all comfortable with this.

Taken together, 45% of Asian Americans would be “very comfortable” with all three of these situations: a child of theirs marrying someone who is not from their country of origin, Asian but from a different country of origin, and not Asian.

There is a strong association between nativity and age with views about intergroup marriage. Among Asian immigrants, 46% would be very comfortable with a child marrying someone from a different country of origin. Most native-born Asian Americans are comfortable with intergroup marriage; about eight-in-ten (79%) would be very comfortable with a child marrying someone from a different country of origin group. This pattern holds across the set. Taken together, 37% of Asian immigrants say they would be very comfortable in response to all three questions about intergroup marriage; 68% of the native born say the same.

Younger Asian Americans also tend to be more comfortable with intergroup marriage than older Asian Americans. Half (50%) of younger adults (ages 18 to 34) say they would be very comfortable in response to all three questions about intergroup marriage, 37% of those ages 55 and older say the same. Those with a social network that consists largely of others in the same Asian country of origin group are less comfortable with intergroup marriage than are those with a wider mix in their social circle.

Looking across Asian groups, Americans of Korean, Vietnamese and Indian origin are less comfortable with intergroup marriage. Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans are the most likely of the six to be very comfortable with intergroup marriage by race and ethnicity. Among Japanese Americans, those who were born in the U.S. are more comfortable than the foreign born with intergroup marriage. For example, 75% of native-born Japanese Americans would be very comfortable if their child married someone who was not Asian; 56% of foreign-born Japanese Americans say the same. The same pattern occurs among other Asian subgroups with large enough samples of native and foreign born for analysis: Chinese Americans and Filipino Americans.

Views on Interracial Marriage in the General Public

The general public also tends to be broadly accepting of interracial and interethnic marriage. A Pew Research survey of the general public in 2009 included a similar series of questions. When asked if an immediate family member married someone from each of four groups—African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Asian Americans and white Americans—respondents rated whether they would “be fine” with it, “would be bothered, but would come to accept it,” or “would not be able to accept it.”

About six-in-ten adults (63%) in the general public said they would be fine with a family member marrying outside their racial group. Overall, blacks were more accepting than either whites or Hispanics of intermarriage—72% would be fine with a family member choosing to marry someone who was white, Hispanic or Asian American. About six-in-ten whites (61%) would be fine with a family member marrying someone who was African American, Hispanic American or Asian American, and 63 percent of Hispanics would be fine with a family member marrying someone who was African American, Asian American or white American.

Younger adults are more accepting than older adults of intermarriage; age differences are more pronounced among whites than among blacks in the general public.

Of the racial and ethnic groups considered, openness to a family member’s marriage to a white ranks highest and marriage to an African American ranks lowest; openness to a marriage with an Asian American and with a Hispanic falls between these two. About eight-in-ten (81%) non-whites say they would be fine with a family member’s marriage to a white American; three-quarters (75%) of non-Asians say the same about marriage to an Asian American and a similar percentage of non-Hispanics (73%) would be fine with a marriage to a Hispanic American. About two-thirds (66%) of non-blacks say they would be fine with a family member’s marriage to an African American.

Discrimination

Perceptions of discrimination provide another lens through which to view intergroup relations. The Pew Research survey asked several questions about discrimination against respondents’ Asian country of origin group (such as Chinese American, Filipino American and so forth) as well as questions about personal experience with discrimination.

Just 13% of Asian Americans say discrimination against their country of origin group is a major problem, nearly half (48%) say it is a minor problem and 35% say discrimination is not a problem.

Slightly more foreign-born than native-born Asian Americans see discrimination against Asian Americans as a major problem.

Education is inversely related to perceptions of discrimination. Among those with a college degree, about half (52%) say discrimination against their country of origin group is a minor problem and 11% say it is a major problem. Among those with a high school education or less, 39% call discrimination a minor problem and 21% call it a major problem.

Perceptions of discrimination vary somewhat across U.S. Asian groups. Chinese and Korean Americans are more likely than other U.S. Asians to say that discrimination is either a major or minor problem. Korean Americans are more likely than other Asian groups to see discrimination as a major problem.

Further, a majority believe that being Asian American makes no difference when it comes to school admission or hiring and promotion decisions. About six-in-ten (61%) Asian Americans say being of their country of origin group (such as Japanese American, Indian American and so forth) makes no difference in admissions to schools and colleges; those with a different view are more likely to say that it helps (20%) than hurts (12%).

Similar percentages say that being Asian makes no difference when it comes to finding a job (62%), while 19% say it helps and 12% say it hurts.

While some observers talk about a “bamboo ceiling” hindering the rise of Asian Americans to top positions, a majority of Asian Americans say that being Asian makes no difference when it comes to getting a promotion at work. Among all U.S. Asians, 61% say being from their Asian group makes no difference in promotion decisions once on the job; roughly equal percentages say being from their Asian group helps in getting a promotion (14%) as say it hurts (15%).

Native-born Asian Americans are less likely than those who are foreign born to see their country of origin as a factor when seeking a job and especially for getting a promotion. A greater share of the native born say being of their country of origin group makes no difference when it comes to getting a job or a promotion. And the native born are less likely than the foreign born to say that being of their country of origin hurts for getting a job or a promotion. This pattern differs, however, when it comes to gaining admission to schools and colleges. Native-born Asian Americans, more so than those who are foreign born, say being of their country of origin group hurts their chances of admission.

Views about the effect of being Asian American on admission into schools and colleges tend to vary by education level. Those with less education are more inclined to say that being Asian is an advantage.

College graduates are about equally likely to say that being of their Asian group helps (15%) or hurts (16%) admission into schools. Asian Americans with a high school diploma or less are more likely to say being of their Asian group is an advantage (28%) rather than a disadvantage (7%) in admissions decisions. About half or more of Asian Americans at any education level believe it makes no difference either way.

A similar pattern occurs when it comes to finding a job. Among college graduates, about equal percentages say being from their Asian group helps (15%) as say it hurts (13%) in job decisions. Those with a high school diploma or less are more likely to say that being from their Asian group is an advantage (29%) than say it hurts (11%). However, about half or more of Asian Americans at any education level say that being from their Asian group makes no difference in getting a job.

When it comes to getting a promotion, college graduates are more likely to say that being of their U.S. Asian group hurts (17%) than helps (10%); 65% say it makes no difference. Among those with a high school diploma or less, 23% say being of their Asian group helps, 14% say it hurts and half (50%) say it makes no difference.

About two-in-ten (19%) Asian Americans say they have personally experienced discrimination because of their Asian heritage within the past year. One-in-ten (10%) say they have been called offensive names in the past year because of their Asian heritage.

More younger adults (ages 18 to 34) than older adults (ages 55 and older) have experienced discrimination and been called offensive names in the past year.

There is modest variation in experience with discrimination across Asian groups. About two-in-ten Chinese, Korean, Filipino and Indian Americans report experiencing discrimination in the past year; Japanese Americans are less likely to have experienced discrimination (9%). And about one-in-ten of each U.S. Asian group say they have been called offensive names because of their country of origin in the past year; among Japanese Americans, that share is even lower at 4%.

Native- and foreign-born Asian Americans are about equally likely to experience discrimination or to have been called offensive names.

The pattern of results across these measures—both perceptions of and personal experience with discrimination—suggests that discrimination is not a major concern among Asian Americans. While not precisely comparable, Pew Research surveys with other racial and ethnic minorities show greater concern about group discrimination.

Surveys by the Pew Research Center and others show strong concern about group discrimination among blacks. For example, in a 2009 Pew Research survey, 43% of blacks said there was “a lot” of discrimination against African Americans, 39% said there was some and 16% said there was little or no discrimination. While not directly comparable to the current survey, this suggests that, relative to blacks, discrimination is of less concern to Asian Americans.

A similar, though not directly comparable question, asked on a 2010 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center also suggests that Asian Americans have less concern than Hispanics about group discrimination. The Pew Hispanic Center survey asked whether discrimination was a major problem, a minor problem or not a problem “in preventing Hispanics in general from succeeding in America.” In 2010, 61% of U.S. Hispanics called discrimination a major problem, 24% said it was a minor problem and 13% said it was not a problem. Direct comparisons across surveys rely on identical question wording due to the effect that sometimes even small variations in wording can have on responses. In this case, the additional qualifier that discrimination prevents Hispanics from succeeding in America may change the meaning of the question and so could account for some or all of the differences between Hispanics and Asian Americans.

As with perceptions of discrimination among Asian Americans, Hispanics immigrants are more likely than those born in the U.S. to say discrimination is a major problem in preventing Hispanics’ success. Similarly, a majority of Hispanics say that discrimination against their group was a major problem in schools and in the workplace, according to a 2007 survey by the Pew Hispanic Center.

Personal experience with discrimination may also be more common among Hispanics than it is among Asian Americans. While not directly comparable, a 2010 Pew Hispanic Center survey found 34% of Hispanics reported that they, a family member or a close friend experienced discrimination over the previous five years because of their ethnic background. Looking at only personal experiences over a shorter time period, the Pew Research survey of Asian Americans finds about two-in-ten (19%) saying they have personally experienced discrimination or have been treated unfairly in the past 12 months because of their country of origin.

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Released: June 19, 2012

Chapter 4: Immigration and Transnational Ties

One of the characteristics of the modern wave of Asian immigration to the United States is that it has gathered momentum in an era when the biggest sending countries have experienced dramatic economic growth and standard of living gains. Yet the Pew Research survey finds few Asian immigrants looking back over their shoulders with regret. A large majority (76%) say that if they had to do it all over again, they would still come to the U.S.; just 12% say they would stay in their home country and 6% say they would move somewhere else.

Many Asian Americans—both foreign born and native born—acknowledge the growing economic power of China and other Asian countries in relation to the U.S., but they overwhelmingly favor the U.S. over their country of origin on a wide range of measures. Among them is the “opportunity to get ahead”; fully 73% rate the U.S. better on this question, while just 5% rate their own country of origin better. By margins nearly as lopsided, Asian Americans also see the U.S. as offering more political and religious freedoms, providing better conditions for raising children, and doing a better job of caring for the poor.

On a question about which country has better moral values, survey respondents are evenly divided. The only measure on which they give the nod to their country of origin over the U.S. is “strength of family ties”—not surprising in light of the fact that 74% of Asian-American adults are themselves immigrants. Also, 59% of all Asian Americans report that they have immediate family residing in their country of origin, and 33% say they sent money to people living abroad in the past year.

Asian Americans born in the U.S. are even more likely than their foreign-born counterparts to rate the U.S. highly in terms of the opportunity it offers to get ahead; its guarantees of political and religious freedoms; and the conditions it provides for raising children. At the same time, the foreign born rank the U.S. more highly in its moral values and its treatment of the poor.

This chapter explores why Asian-American immigrants came to the U.S. and how they feel, in retrospect, about their decision to migrate. It looks at the share of respondents who still have close family living in their country of origin, and the share that sends money to family or friends in their country of origin. And it examines perceptions of how the U.S. compares with the respondent’s country of origin across a number of realms, as well as attitudes regarding whether immigrants strengthen or burden the U.S.

Coming to the U.S.

While the decision to migrate is often fueled by a complex mix of motivations, when immigrant respondents were asked to name the main reason that they came to the U.S., some 31% say they came for family reasons, including family reunification. An additional 28% report that educational opportunity was their main reason for coming, and about one-fifth (21%) say it was economic opportunity. Smaller shares report migrating primarily to escape persecution (9%) or for some other reason (9%).

Women are far more likely than men to report coming to the U.S. for family reasons (40% vs. 22%), likely due to the fact that many women are migrating to reunite with family members already in the U.S. Men are more likely than women to report immigrating to the U.S. for economic reasons (26% vs. 17%) or educational reasons (31% vs. 25%).

Those most likely to say that they migrated for educational reasons are younger and better educated. Some 37% of respondents ages 18 to 34 say so, as do 38% of those with a college degree or more. This is not surprising, considering that those who migrate for educational purposes typically come for college, graduate school or professional school. And the relatively youthful profile of these educational migrants likely reflects that many are still in the midst of their academic training in the U.S.

Filipino immigrants are among the most likely to say they came to the U.S. primarily for family reasons (43%), while Indian immigrants are the least likely to say this (18%). About one-third of Chinese immigrants (36%), Indian immigrants (37%) and Korean immigrants (37%) report that they migrated primarily for educational reasons, but only about one-tenth of Vietnamese immigrants (10%) and Filipino immigrants (10%) say so. Economic opportunity was the primary motivator for about one-third of Indian and Filipino immigrants (34% each), but it was important to only a handful of Japanese immigrants (6%). Among the Vietnamese, 38% cite the desire to escape persecution in their home country as the primary reason for migration.

A Pew Research Center survey conducted last year asked Hispanics a similar question. While family, education and economic opportunity all figured prominently in the reasons Asians migrated to the U.S., among Hispanic immigrants, the primary reason for migration was unequivocally economic. In the 2011 survey, more than half (55%) of Hispanic immigrants said as much. Only 9% of Hispanic immigrants came for educational reasons, compared with 28% of Asian-American immigrants. The share of Hispanics who migrated for family reasons (24%) was slightly lower than that among Asian-American immigrants. And 5% of Hispanic immigrants came to escape persecution or conflict in their home country.

While their reasons for coming to the U.S. in the first place vary, a large majority of Asian- American immigrants share the same attitude about their migration—if they had to do it again, three-fourths (76%) would still come to the U.S. Some 12% report that they would have stayed in their home country, and 6% would have moved to another country.

Vietnamese immigrants are the most likely to say they would still move to the U.S. if they had to do it again, with 88% reporting so. At the other end of the spectrum, some 68% of Korean immigrants and 67% of Japanese immigrants report as much. Notable shares also report that they would have stayed in their home country (23% of Korean immigrants, 17% of Japanese immigrants).

Like Asian-American immigrants, Hispanic immigrants in the U.S. are extremely likely to report that, were they to do it all over again, they would still choose to migrate to the U.S. Some 79% say so, compared with 76% of Asian-American immigrants.

These results should be interpreted cautiously—since the survey was conducted only among those currently living in the U.S., it excludes past Asian immigrants who have chosen to return to their country of origin. However, return migration is estimated to be lower for Asians than for other immigrants, and the naturalization rate—that is, the share of eligible immigrants who become U.S. citizens—is relatively high. For more details see Chapter 1.

Ties to the Country of Origin

Large shares of all Asian Americans still have close family ties in their country of origin. Some 59% report that they have a spouse, children, parents or siblings residing in their country of origin. The foreign born are much more likely to say this—69% versus 28% for the native born.

Among all Asian Americans, at least 60% of Indian Americans (69%), Vietnamese Americans (65%), Korean Americans (63%) and Filipino Americans (61%) still have close family living in their country of origin. Just over half (56%) of Chinese Americans have immediate family still in China, Taiwan or another country of origin. Japanese Americans, the majority of whom were born in the U.S., are least likely to have close relatives in their country of origin, but a sizable minority—41%—do.

Remittances, which are transfers of money sent back to the country of origin, are one way in which families remain linked transnationally. Overall, one-third (33%) of Asian Americans report sending remittances to anyone in their country of origin in the past year, and among those Asian Americans who report having immediate family members still living in the country of origin, this share rises to 43%. Among the foreign born, 40% of all respondents, and 46% of respondents with close family living in their home country, remitted in the past year. In comparison, 13% of native-born respondents, and about one-fourth (23%) of native-born respondents with close family in the home country, did the same.

Vietnamese Americans with close family still in Vietnam are very likely to remit, with 70% reporting that they sent money in the past year. Filipino Americans are among the most likely to report moving to the U.S. for economic reasons, and the majority (67%) who still have close relatives in the Philippines also report remitting money. Sending remittances is less prevalent among members of other Asian subgroups. Just 21% of Korean Americans with close family in the country of origin sent money in the past year, and 16% of comparable Japanese Americans did the same.

Comparing Conditions in the U.S. to Those in the Country of Origin

The survey asked a series of questions regarding whether certain conditions are better in the U.S. or in the respondent’s country of origin. On most of these measures, the U.S. fares quite well in comparison to the country of origin. This is particularly so in terms of the opportunity to get ahead. The U.S. also ranks well in terms of political freedoms. In terms of moral values, sizable shares of respondents favor both the U.S. and their country of origin. When it comes to the strength of family ties, a majority of respondents favor their country of origin, and only one-in-seven (14%) perceives family ties as stronger in the U.S.

Given the very different profiles of the countries of origin, and the different histories of the migration streams from those countries, it’s no surprise that there are variations in the relative ratings of the U.S. among people from different countries of origin. For example, the Vietnamese Americans—many of whom came as refugees from a country gripped by conflict—rate the U.S. quite highly compared with Vietnam. In contrast, Filipino Americans, many of whom are fairly well educated and who came to the U.S. for economic advancement, are less likely to state that the U.S. is better than the Philippines on these measures.

The native born are more likely than the foreign born to regard the opportunity to get ahead as better in the U.S. than in their families’ country of origin. They also perceive the U.S. as offering more political and religious freedoms. By contrast, the foreign born are more likely than their native-born counterparts to see the U.S. as offering better moral values and better treatment of the poor.

Comparing results to a 2011 Pew Hispanic Center survey reveals that Hispanic Americans are more likely than Asian Americans to rate the U.S. higher than their country of origin on all comparable measures. This is true in terms of the opportunity to get ahead, moral values, strength of family ties, conditions for raising children and treatment of the poor.

Economic Opportunity

When it comes to getting ahead economically, almost three-fourths (73%) of Asian Americans state that the U.S. offers better opportunities than their country of origin. An additional 18% state that the economic opportunities are similar in both places, while only 5% perceive better opportunities in their country of origin.

The majority of respondents from each Asian- American subgroup say that the U.S. offers more opportunities to get ahead than their country of origin. The prevalence of this opinion varies somewhat within these groups, from 94% of Vietnamese Americans who agree with the statement to about two-thirds of Korean Americans (69%), Japanese Americans (66%) and Chinese Americans (65%) who agree with it. About one-fifth of respondents in each of these groups say that opportunities are similar in the U.S. and their country of origin.

Native-born respondents are somewhat more likely than the foreign born to perceive more opportunities in the U.S. than in their country of origin. Some 79% of Asian Americans born in the U.S. agree, compared with 71% of Asian Americans born outside of the U.S. This pattern is particularly notable among Chinese Americans; while 82% of the native born agree with this statement, the share drops to 61% among the foreign born. Significant nativity differences exist among Korean Americans (84% vs. 66%) and Indian Americans (86% vs. 70%) as well.

U.S. Hispanics are even more positive than their Asian-American counterparts about the opportunity to get ahead in the U.S. While some 73% of Asian Americans state that the opportunities to get ahead are better in the U.S. than in their country of origin, among Hispanics this share jumps to 87%. One-in-ten (10%) Latinos say the opportunity to get ahead is similar in both places, compared with 18% of Asian Americans.

Political and Religious Freedoms

Asian Americans also rate the U.S. higher than their countries of origin in terms of providing freedoms to express political opinions. Almost seven-in-ten (69%) state that the U.S. offers a better environment for this than does their country of origin. An additional 23% state that the ability to express political views is similar in the U.S. and their country of origin. Just 3% say that freedom to express political views is better in their country of origin.

Vietnamese Americans are by far the most likely to state that the U.S. offers more political freedoms than their country of origin; fully 94% say as much. This is no great surprise given that many came to the U.S. as political refugees. At the other end of the spectrum are Indian Americans; some 55% think that political freedoms are better in the U.S. than in India, and 35% think that political freedoms in the two countries are similar. Filipino Americans have a comparable perspective—56% think the U.S. offers more political freedoms than their country of origin, and 38% think political freedoms are similar in the U.S. and the Philippines.

Native-born Asian Americans are more likely than the foreign born to believe that the U.S. offers more freedom to voice political opinions (79% vs. 66%) than their country of origin. Conversely, the foreign born are more likely to believe that political freedoms are similar in both places (26% say so, compared with 15% among the native born). In the case of Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans, nativity differences are especially pronounced; three-fourths (75%) of native-born Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans agree that political freedoms are better in the U.S. than their country of origin, compared with about half (49%) of the foreign born in each of these groups. Among Chinese Americans, including those from Taiwan and other places, 85% of the native born and 75% of the foreign born say political freedoms are better in the U.S. than their country of origin. Other U.S. Asian groups do not have a large enough sample of native-born respondents for analysis.

In terms of religious—as opposed to political—freedom, Asian Americans are a bit less likely to see the U.S. as offering liberties beyond those of their country of origin, though about half (52%) do. Some 38% perceive religious freedom to be similar in their country of origin and in the U.S.

Once again, Vietnamese Americans are the most likely to state that the U.S. offers more freedoms than their country of origin (87% do). Some 65% of Chinese Americans say the same. Korean, Filipino and Indian Americans are the least likely to say that religious freedoms are better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. Among Korean Americans, this share is 38%; it is 37% for Filipino Americans, and 33% for Indian Americans. At least half of respondents from each of these groups state that religious freedoms are about the same in the U.S. and their country of origin.

As is the case with political freedoms, the native born are more likely than the foreign born to say that religious freedoms are better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. Some 61% of Asian Americans born in the U.S. say as much, compared with about half (49%) of the foreign born.

Perceptions of religious freedom in the U.S. versus the country of origin are also associated with religious affiliation. This is likely due, in part, to the fact that religious affiliation is linked to Asian-American country of origin subgroup. For instance, the plurality (38%) of Asian-American Buddhists are Vietnamese Americans. And like Vietnamese Americans, Buddhists in the survey are very likely to say that religious freedoms are better in the U.S. than in their country of origin (63% say so). Some 59% of Asian Americans who are unaffiliated with a certain religion—about half of whom are Chinese Americans—state that the U.S. has more religious freedoms than their country of origin. Some 55% of Protestant respondents agree that religious freedoms are better in the U.S. than in their home country. Almost half (48%) of Catholic respondents, 52% of whom are Filipino Americans, perceive religious freedoms as better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. Another 42% of Catholics think religious freedoms are similar in both the U.S. and their country of origin. And Hindu respondents, the vast majority of whom (93%) are Indian American, are the least likely to say that religious freedom is better in the U.S. than in their country of origin (26% do); this tracks closely with Indian-American opinion.

Moral Values and the Strength of Family Ties

When it comes to evaluating moral values, respondents are fairly evenly split as to whether they are better, worse, or the same in the U.S. versus their country of origin. About one-third (34%) think that the moral values of society are better in the U.S.; 28% think they are better in their country of origin; and 32% think they are about the same in both countries.

Once again Vietnamese Americans stand out, this time as the only subgroup in which a clear majority (64%) perceives moral values as better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. At the other end of the spectrum, only 11% of Japanese Americans feel this way, and about half (51%) perceive moral values as better in Japan. An additional 29% think moral values are similar in both places. Sizable minorities of Filipino Americans (33%) and Indian Americans (31%) also think that moral values are better in their country of origin, though for both groups large minorities (44% for Filipino Americans, 42% for Indian Americans) perceive moral values as similar in their country of origin and the U.S.

Foreign-born Asian Americans are somewhat more likely to regard moral values as better in the U.S. than their country of origin. Some 36% say as much, compared with 30% of native-born Asian Americans.

Hispanic Americans are more likely than Asian Americans to perceive the U.S. as offering better moral values than their country of origin. While 34% of Asian Americans say as much, for Hispanics, this share rises to 44%. Some 21% of Hispanics state that moral values are better in their home country, compared with 28% of Asian Americans.

Of all the items that Asian-American respondents were asked about, it is in regard to the strength of family ties that they most favor their country of origin. More than half (56%) report that the strength of ties is better in their country of origin; this is hardly surprising, given that the majority (59%) of respondents still have close family members living there. About one-fourth (26%) feel that the strength of family ties is the same in both places, and only 14% report that the strength of ties is better in the U.S.

This is the only measure for which the plurality of Vietnamese Americans do not favor the U.S. Instead, some 45% state that the strength of family ties is better in Vietnam and 26% say it is better in the U.S. About one-fourth (27%) say the strength of ties is similar in both places. At the other end of the spectrum, only 8% of Indian Americans state that the U.S. is better for the strength of family ties, while 69% consider India better in that regard. Filipino Americans present similarly, with 11% perceiving the strength of family ties as better in the U.S. than the Philippines and 64% perceiving family ties as better in the Philippines.

There are no differences by nativity on this measure.

U.S. Hispanics are far more likely than their Asian-American counterparts to state that the U.S. is better in terms of the strength of family ties than their country of origin. While only 14% of Asian Americans agree with this statement, fully one-third (33%) of Hispanics do. And conversely, while over half (56%) of Asian Americans consider the strength of family ties to be better in their country of origin, this share is 39% for Hispanic Americans. The difference in response by these two groups likely reflects, in part, the fact that Hispanics have a more established history in the U.S. and include a lower share (37%) of foreign-born respondents. In contrast, Asian Americans are predominantly immigrants (59%).

Conditions for Raising Children

Despite some ambivalence about the U.S. context in terms of morals and family ties, the majority (62%) of Asian Americans consider the conditions for raising children to be better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. One-fifth (20%) say that conditions for raising children are similar in both places, while a smaller share—13%—thinks that conditions are better in their country of origin.

Vietnamese Americans are the most likely to state that the U.S. offers a better context to raise children than their country of origin. Some 84% say as much. The plurality (40%) of Japanese Americans perceive the U.S. as offering better conditions for raising children, but sizable minorities think that Japan provides a better environment for this (22%) or that the conditions are similar in the two countries (26%).

Native-born Asian Americans are particularly upbeat about the prospect of raising children in the U.S. Two-thirds (67%) feel that conditions are better in the United States than in their country of origin. Even among the foreign born, though, a majority (61%) perceives the context for raising children as better in the U.S. than in their home country. Among Filipino immigrants, this number falls to 37%, while 80% of native-born Filipino Americans are relatively upbeat about raising children in the U.S.

Hispanic Americans are even more positive than Asian Americans about the prospect of raising children in the U.S. While 62% of Asian Americans think the U.S. offers a better context than their country of origin for raising children, this share rises to 72% among Hispanics living in the U.S.

Treatment of the Poor

In terms of treatment of the poor, almost two-thirds (64%) of Asian Americans say that the situation is better in the U.S. than in their country of origin. About one-fifth (21%) perceive the treatment of the poor as similar in the U.S. and in their country of origin, and just 9% believe that treatment of the poor is better in their country of origin.

Once again, Vietnamese Americans are especially likely to perceive the U.S. more favorably than their country of origin, with 86% stating that the poor are treated better in the United States. In contrast, about one-third (32%) of Japanese Americans think that the poor are treated better in the U.S. than in Japan, one-fourth (25%) think they are treated better in Japan, and about one-fourth (26%) think they are treated equally in both places. The predominance of native-born Japanese Americans is likely contributing to their divergent views on how the U.S. compares to their country of origin.

There are nativity differences on this measure, with 68% of the foreign born agreeing that the U.S. treats its poor better than their countries of origin do. In comparison, 54% of native-born Asian Americans say the same.

Hispanics are somewhat more positive than Asian Americans about the treatment of the poor in the U.S. versus their country of origin. Fully 69% of Hispanics state that treatment of the poor is better in the U.S.

Which Country Is the Rising Global Economic Power?

The survey also asked respondents who they think will be the world’s leading economic power a decade from now. About four-in-ten (40%) Asian Americans say China will be the world’s leading economic power 10 years in the future, while 41% say it will be the U.S. and 8% name some other country or economic power (such as the European Union, Germany, India, Japan and South Korea).

Respondents from most subgroups are fairly evenly split on whether they foresee China or the U.S. as leading the world’s economy a decade from now. The exceptions are Japanese Americans and Vietnamese Americans. Japanese Americans are more likely to see China as the world’s future economic power (47% say China, 31% say the U.S.), while Vietnamese Americans are more likely to hold the opposite opinion. Fully 61% expect that the world’s leading economic power in the coming decade will be the U.S., while 23% expect that it will be China.

There are no notable nativity differences on this measure. Native-born Asian Americans are more likely to view China as the world’s future economic power (46% say so), while the largest share (44%) of the foreign born expect the U.S. to be the world’s economic power 10 years from now. However, Chinese-American immigrants are more likely than those born in the U.S. to state that the U.S. will be the world’s leading economic power a decade from now (42% versus 27%). This pattern holds for Korean Americans and Vietnamese Americans, as well.

The judgments of the general public of the United States about the world’s leading economic power in 10 years are similar to those of Asian Americans. Among the general public, 42% believe China will be the top economic power, 37% say the U.S. and 10% cite other nations.

Do Immigrants Strengthen or Burden the U.S.?

When given two choices for describing the role of immigrants in the U.S., the vast majority of Asian Americans say that immigrants contribute to the U.S., while a much smaller share say immigrants are a drain. Seven-in-ten (72%) agree with the statement that “immigrants today strengthen the U.S. because of their hard work and talents,” while only 17% agree with the statement that “immigrants today are a burden on the U.S. because they take jobs, housing and health care.”

These opinions are in stark contrast to those of the general population. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, about half (48%) of the U.S. adult population say that immigrants strengthen the U.S., and a somewhat smaller share (37%) agree with the statement that immigrants are a burden.

The gap in attitudes between Asian Americans and the general population is not simply driven by the fact that Asian Americans are far more likely to be foreign born. Both native-born and foreign-born Asian Americans tend to evaluate immigrants as important contributors to the U.S. Among the native born, 70% agree that immigrants strengthen the U.S., as do 73% of the foreign born. A difference of opinion emerges between the second generation (who have at least one immigrant parent) and the third generation (whose parents were born in the U.S.).

While 73% of second-generation respondents see immigrants as strengthening the U.S., among the third generation, this share is 60%.

College graduates and those making $75,000 or more annually are the most likely to perceive immigrants as strengthening, as opposed to burdening, the U.S. More than three-fourths (78%) of respondents with a college degree or more think that immigrants strengthen the U.S. About two-thirds (68%) of those with some college education and 63% of those with a high school diploma or less share this opinion. An almost identical story plays out in terms of income. Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) of those with incomes of $75,000 or more think that immigrants strengthen the U.S., compared with 70% of those with incomes of $30,000 to $74,999. About two-thirds (67%) of respondents earning less than $30,000 annually think that immigrants strengthen the U.S.

In all Asian-American subgroups, the majority agrees that immigrants strengthen the U.S. through their hard work and talents. Indian Americans are especially likely to agree with this statement, with 83% saying as much. Even among Japanese Americans, with their large share of native-born respondents, some 61% agree that immigrants strengthen the U.S.

Asians in the U.S. and in Asia

The Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project has done extensive polling throughout the world, including in some of the nations from which U.S. Asian immigrants have come. The results of this research provide a window into the attitudes and beliefs of Asians who have not emigrated and how they compare with those of Asians living in the U.S.

Intergenerational Mobility: Polling in the U.S. and among Asian publics from 2012 suggests that Asian Americans have experienced greater economic mobility than their counterparts still living in their countries of origin. Respondents were asked to compare their current standard of living with that of their parents when they were at a comparable age. Among Indian Americans, 55% say their standard of living is much better than their parents’ was at a similar age. The share of adults living in India who say the same is much smaller (30%).

Similarly, while a majority of Chinese Americans (57%) say their standard of living is much better than their parents’ was, only 39% of the Chinese public says the same. A similar pattern can be seen when comparing Japanese Americans with Japanese adults in Japan. Japanese Americans are about twice as likely as Japanese adults to say their current standard of living is much better than their parents’ was at a comparable age (33% vs. 15%).

Belief in Hard Work: Asian Americans are strong proponents of hard work. Overall, 69% believe most people who want to get ahead can make it if they’re willing to work hard, while only 27% say hard work and determination are no guarantee of success for most people. In this regard, Asian Americans express a stronger belief in the value of hard work than does the broader American public.

Looking at specific country of origin groups, the shares of Indian Americans, Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans who believe hard work can lead to success are somewhat higher than the shares of Indians, Chinese and Japanese living in those countries who say the same. While 59% of Japanese Americans say hard work leads to success, only 40% of Japanese adults living in Japan agree. Among Chinese Americans, 61% say hard work leads to success, while only 45% of Chinese adults in China agree. Strong majorities of Indian Americans and Indian adults in India believe hard work is the key to getting ahead. Nonetheless there is a gap in opinion between the two groups: 75% of Indian Americans vs. 67% of Indian adults in India say hard work leads to success.

Parenting Styles: Whether it’s a myth or a reality, Asian Americans have gained a reputation as strict and demanding parents. Overall, 62% of Asian Americans believe most American parents do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school. Their views of their own approach to parenting are quite different. Very few Asian Americans (9%) say parents from their country of origin put too little pressure on their children to do well in school. Rather, they believe parents from their country of origin put about the right amount of pressure (49%) or too much pressure (39%) on their children.

The pressure on children to succeed may be even more intense in Asian countries. In 2011, 68% of adults in China said parents in that country put too much pressure on their children to do well in school. This compares with 42% of Chinese Americans who say Chinese-American parents put too much pressure on their children. Similarly, in 2006, 59% of Japanese adults said parents in Japan put too much pressure on their children to do well in school. This compares with 25% of Japanese Americans who say the same this year about Japanese-American parents.

Among Indians and Indian Americans, there is not a significant gap in the share saying that parents put too much pressure on their children to succeed. In 2011, 24% of adults in India said parents in their country do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school. By contrast, 7% of Indian-American adults say the same about parents from their country of origin group.

Views on Homosexuality: Overall, the American public has become much more accepting of homosexuality in recent years. Currently, among all U.S. adults, 56% say homosexuality should be accepted by society, while 32% say it should be discouraged. The views of Asian Americans are similar: 53% say homosexuality should be accepted by society, and 35% say it should be discouraged.

The balance of opinion on this issue is much different in several large Asian nations. In recent years, strong majorities in South Korea (77% in 2007), China (61% in 2011) and India (58% in 2011) have said homosexuality should be discouraged by society, while fewer than one-in-five in each of those countries said homosexuality should be accepted. The gaps between these Asian publics and their counterparts living in the U.S. are quite wide.

The Japanese public expresses more tolerant views on homosexuality, and as a result their opinions are more closely aligned with those of Japanese Americans. In 2011, 55% of Japanese adults living in Japan said homosexuality should be accepted. This compares with 68% of Japanese Americans in the 2012 Asian-American survey.

National Conditions: Most Asian immigrants say they came to the U.S. for family reasons, educational opportunities and economic opportunities. Some 43% say they are satisfied with current conditions in the U.S.—a much higher share than the general public (21%).

Looking at Asian publics, satisfaction with national conditions varies widely. Adults living in China are highly satisfied with conditions in that country. In 2012, fully 82% say they are satisfied with the way things are going in their country today. Recent economic growth in China is undoubtedly tied to these high levels of satisfaction. By comparison, Chinese Americans are less satisfied overall with conditions in the U.S. (41% are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S.).

India, too, has experienced dramatic economic change in recent years. The Indian public is less positive about conditions in India: 38% are now satisfied with the way things are going in their country, and 59% are dissatisfied. Among Indian Americans, 47% are satisfied with conditions in the U.S.

The Japanese public has a more negative view of conditions in their country. Only 20% of Japanese adults now say they are satisfied with the way things are going in Japan. By comparison, Japanese Americans are more satisfied with conditions in the U.S. (36% are satisfied).

The World’s Leading Economic Power: When Asian publics are asked to name the world’s leading economy, the U.S. generally comes out on top. According to the most recent Global Attitudes survey (2012), pluralities in China (48%) and India (37%) say the U.S. is now the world’s leading economic power. The Japanese public is evenly split over which country has the world’s leading economy: 45% point to the U.S., while 43% say China. Americans are similarly divided over which country is the world’s leading economic power. In the same 2012 Pew Global Attitudes survey, 40% of all American adults say the U.S. is the leading economic power, and 41% say China is the leader. The views of the Japanese public and the American public have changed significantly in this regard. In 2008, 52% of Japanese adults said the U.S. was the leading economic power, while only 19% chose China. Among American adults, in 2008, 46% chose the U.S. and 26% chose China.

In the 2012 Asian-American Survey, Asian Americans were asked to predict which country will be the world’s leading economic power 10 years from now. Overall, they divide about equally between the U.S. (41%) and China (40%). Japanese Americans stand out in this regard: A plurality believes China will be the world’s leading economic power in 10 years. Among Vietnamese Americans a majority believes the U.S. will be dominant.

The World’s Leading Superpower: In 2011, global respondents were also asked about the potential for China to eventually replace the U.S. as the world’s leading superpower. Opinion on this matter is divided across Asian publics. Chinese adults are the most likely to say their country will surpass the U.S. and become the leading superpower (57%). Adults in Japan are more skeptical about China’s future. Among Japanese adults, 25% believe China will eventually replace the U.S. as the world’s leading superpower, while 60% say this will never happen. In India, fully half of respondents had no opinion on this matter. Of those who did express a view, most say that China either would replace the U.S. as the leading superpower or that China had already done so.

This question was not included on the Asian-American survey, so no comparisons are available.

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Released: June 19, 2012

Chapter 5: Family and Personal Values

Asian Americans have a distinctive set of values and behaviors when it comes to parenthood, marriage and career. Compared with the U.S. population as a whole, they are more likely to be married, and Asian-American women are less likely to be unmarried mothers. They place greater importance than the general public on career and material success, and these values are evident in their parenting norms. About six-in-ten say most American parents don’t place enough pressure on their children to do well in school; only 9% say the same about parents from their own Asian heritage group.

Marriage and family are of central importance to virtually all Americans, regardless of their ethnic or racial background. But in recent decades, sweeping social changes have transformed the institutions of marriage and parenthood. A smaller share of adults in the U.S. are married (51% now, down from 69% in 1970), more babies are being born outside of marriage (41% in 2009, up from 11% in 1970), and fewer children are being raised by two married parents (63% in 2010, down from 82% in 1970). In most of these realms, today’s Asian Americans—particularly the foreign born—represent something of a throwback; their behaviors resemble the patterns that prevailed before these changes in American society took hold.

Asian Americans and the overall American public are in broad agreement that parenthood and marriage are at the top of the list of “the most important things” in life; other priorities such as career success, homeownership and helping others in need trail far behind. However, while the rank order is similar, Asian Americans place a higher level of importance on each priority compared with the general public.

Within the Asian-American population, there are a few key differences between immigrants and those born in the U.S. Foreign-born Asians place a higher priority on marriage, homeownership and career success than do their native-born counterparts. Indian Americans stand out from other Asian Americans for the emphasis they place on being a good parent. Vietnamese Americans stand apart from other groups in the value they place on homeownership and career success.

In addition to exploring Asian Americans’ values and priorities, this section will look at their views on appropriate parenting and the influence parents should have over their adult children. The image of the Asian American “tiger mom” may be overblown, but a majority of Asian Americans question whether most American parents put enough pressure on their children to do well in school. And a solid majority of Asian Americans say parents should have at least some influence over their adult children’s choice of spouse and career.

What Matters Most in Life?

Survey respondents were asked how important each of six aspects of live is to them personally. Asian Americans place the highest priority on being a good parent. About two-thirds (67%) say this is “one of the most important things” in their lives, and an additional 27% say this is “very important but not one of the most important things.” Only 5% say being a good parent is “somewhat important” or “not important” to them personally.

A similarly worded question was asked of the general public in a 2010 Pew Research survey. The public also ranked being a good parent the top priority. However, a smaller share (50%) said this was one of the most important things in their lives. An additional 44% of American adults said being a good parent was very important to them but not the most important thing. There are similar gaps between U.S. Asians and the general public on all of these items. Part of this may be a result of slightly different question wording. However, the gaps may also be attributable to cultural differences between Asian Americans and the general public that influence the way in which respondents from each group answer this type of question.

When it comes to marriage and parenthood, the gap in attitudes between Asian Americans and the general public may also reflect different patterns of behavior in these realms. Overall, Asian-American children are more likely than all American children to be growing up in a household with two married parents. According to data from the 2010 American Community Survey, 80% of Asian-American children age 17 or younger were living with two married parents. This compares with 63% of all American children. In addition, only 15% of the Asian-American women who gave birth in the previous year were unmarried. This compares with roughly 40% of women giving birth among the general public.

Among U.S. Asians, Indian Americans are more likely than others to say that being a good parent is one of the most important things in their lives (78%). Chinese Americans (57%) and Japanese Americans (59%) are somewhat less likely than other Asian Americans to rank this as a top priority.

Whether an Asian American was born in the U.S. or outside of the U.S. does not have a significant impact on the priority placed on parenthood. Asian immigrants and U.S.-born Asians are equally likely to say that being a good parent is one of the most important things in their lives.

After parenthood, Asian Americans place the highest priority on having a successful marriage. Just over half (54%) say this is one of the most important things in their lives. An additional 32% say this is very important but not one of the most important things to them. Among U.S. Asian groups, those of Indian, Korean and Vietnamese heritage place a higher value on marriage than do the other three U.S. Asian groups.

Asian immigrants place a greater degree of importance on marriage than do Asians born in the U.S. Fully 57% of foreign-born Asians rank having a successful marriage as one of their top priorities, while 47% of native-born Asians give it the same ranking.

Compared with all American adults, Asian Americans place more importance on marriage. Among the general public, only about one-third (34%) say having a successful marriage is one of the most important things in their lives. On average, Asian-American adults are more likely than all U.S. adults to be married. In 2010, 59% of all Asian-American adults were married, compared with 51% among the general public. Among U.S. Asian groups, Indian-American adults are the most likely to be married (71%), while Japanese Americans are the least likely (53%).

Homeownership, Career Success, Altruism and Leisure

Parenthood and marriage are the top two priorities for both Asian Americans and the general public. After those is a second tier of items outside of the realm of family: homeownership, career success and helping others in need. Roughly one-third of Asian Americans (32%) say that owning their own home is one of the most important things in their lives. An additional 36% say this is very important to them but not one of the most important things. One-quarter (26%) say this is somewhat important, and 6% say it is not very important.

When compared with the general public, Asian Americans are more likely to place homeownership near the top of their list of life goals. Among U.S. adults, 20% say that owning a home is one of the most important things in their lives.

Vietnamese Americans are more likely than any other U.S. Asian group to place a high priority on owning a home. Roughly half (49%) say owning their own home is one of the most important things to them. By contrast, only 21% of Japanese Americans and 24% of Chinese Americans say the same.

As a group, Asian Americans are less likely than all U.S. adults to own their own home (58% vs. 65%). Among Asian immigrants, those who arrived in the last decade are much less likely to be homeowners than those who emigrated before 2000. In spite of this gap in homeownership, these two groups of immigrants are equally likely to say that owning a home is a top priority for them.

Many Asian Americans also value career success. Overall, 27% of U.S. Asians say being successful in a high-paying career is one of the most important things in their lives. Four-in-ten (39%) say this is very important but not one of the most important things. Some 27% say career success is somewhat important to them, and 6% say it is not important. The general public places significantly less importance on career success. Among all U.S. adults, only 9% say being successful in a high-paying career or profession is one of the most important things in their lives.

The drive for success is particularly strong among foreign-born Asian Americans. Roughly three-in-ten (29%) rank being successful in a high-paying career as a top priority, and 41% say this is very important to them though not one of the most important things in their lives. By comparison, 19% of U.S.-born Asians say career success is one of the most important things in their lives, and an additional 35% say it is very important.

Across U.S. Asian groups, Vietnamese Americans (42%) place the highest priority on career success. Japanese Americans are more in line with the general public on this measure: 12% rate being successful in a high-paying career as a top priority (as do 9% of all U.S. adults).

When it comes to helping others in need, 28% of Asian Americans say this is one of the most important things in their lives. An additional 44% say this is very important to them but not the most important thing, and 26% say this is somewhat important. Only 2% say this is not important to them. Compared with the general public, Asian Americans are somewhat more likely to place a high priority on helping others in need (20% of all American adults say this is one of the most important things in their lives).

Views on this are fairly consistent across U.S. Asian groups, with one exception. Chinese Americans are somewhat less likely than other Asian Americans to say helping other people in need is one of the most important things in their lives (17%).

Finally, respondents were asked how much importance they place on having lots of free time to relax or do things they want to do. Relative to the other five life goals included on the list, free time ranks at the bottom for Asian Americans (and near the bottom for the general public). One-in-five Asian Americans (20%) say this is one of the most important things in their lives, an additional 37% say this is very important but not one of the most important things, and 36% say it is somewhat important. Only 6% say having enough free time is not important to them.

Among all American adults, 10% say having lots of free time is one of the most important things in their lives and 43% say it is very important to them but not the most important.

There is some variance on this measure across U.S. Asian groups. Korean Americans (30%) and Vietnamese Americans (29%) are more likely than other Asian Americans to place a high value on having free time. By contrast, only 15% of Chinese Americans say having free time is one of the most important things to them. Filipino (19%), Indian (19%) and Japanese Americans (18%) are closer to the Chinese in this regard.

How Trusting Are Asian Americans?

When it comes to trusting other people, the views of Asian Americans are similar to those of the general public. Respondents were asked to answer a classic social science question: “Generally speaking, would you say that most people can be trusted or that you can’t be too careful in dealing with people?” Overall, 36% of Asian Americans say most people can be trusted, while a 56% majority says you can’t be too careful. In a 2010 Pew Research survey of the general public, 35% of American adults said most people can be trusted and 61% said you can’t be too careful in dealing with people (slightly higher than the share of Asian Americans who say that).

The views of Asian Americans regarding social trust are in sharp contrast to those of Hispanics. Among Hispanics, only 12% say they believe most people can be trusted. An overwhelming 86% majority says you can’t be too careful in dealing with people. Within the Asian-American population, immigrants and those born in the U.S. express similar levels of trust. Within the Hispanic population, immigrants are less trusting than the native born. Fully 89% of Hispanic immigrants say you can’t be too careful in dealing with people; 81% of U.S.-born Hispanics say the same.

The level of social trust Asian Americans express is remarkably consistent across U.S. Asian groups, with one exception. Filipino Americans are less trusting than any other group. Only 23% say most people can be trusted, and 73% say you can’t be too careful in dealing with people.

Parenting, Pressure and Children: How Much Is Too Much?

Amy Chua set off a swirl of controversy last year with her Wall Street Journal essay entitled, “Why Chinese Mothers Are Superior.” The article was excerpted from Chua’s book, “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” in which she details her strict approach to parenting and her unwillingness to accept anything short of academic excellence from her children. Chua contrasted her approach to parenting with the more nurturing, accepting approach taken by most Western parents.

The opinions of Asian Americans suggest that they, too, see a major gap between their own approach to parenting and the approach taken by most American parents. Survey respondents were first asked whether, on the whole, they think American parents put too much pressure on their children to do well in school, not enough pressure, or about the right amount of pressure. A strong majority of Asian Americans (62%) say American parents do not put enough pressure on their children. An additional 23% say American parents put about the right amount of pressure on their children. Only 9% say they put too much pressure on their children to do well in school.

Later in the survey, respondents were asked about the approach taken by parents from their country of origin or ancestral background. Chinese respondents were asked about Chinese American parents, Koreans were asked about Korean American parents, and so on. While roughly half of all Asian Americans (49%) say that parents from their Asian group put about the right amount of pressure on their children to do well in school, a large minority (39%) says Asian-American parents put too much pressure on their children. Only 9% say they put too little pressure on their children.

Views on the parenting styles of Americans and Asian Americans do not differ significantly by gender or parental status. Attitudes do differ, however, by educational attainment. When thinking of the amount of pressure most American parents put on their children to do well in school, Asian Americans with a college degree are much more likely than those with no college education to say most American parents don’t put enough pressure on their children (66% of Asian-American college graduates say this, compared with 50% of those with a high school diploma or less).

In addition, Asian-American college graduates are more likely than those who have not attended college to endorse the approach taken by parents from their own country of origin. While roughly half (51%) of Asian-American college graduates say parents from their country of origin put about the right amount of pressure on their children to do well in school, only 43% of Asian Americans with no college experience share this view.

U.S.-born Asian Americans are more critical of most American parents than are their foreign-born counterparts. Among Asian Americans who were born in the U.S., 71% say most American parents do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school. This compares with 59% of foreign-born Asian Americans. And when it comes to their own parenting, U.S.-born Asian Americans have a somewhat more positive view of the approach taken by parents from their own Asian group than do those born outside the U.S. Some 56% of U.S.-born Asian Americans say parents from their ancestral background put the right amount of pressure on their children. Among foreign-born Asian Americans, that share is 46%.

Across U.S. Asian groups, opinion is fairly consistent with regard to the way Americans raise their children. About half or more of each group say most American parents do not put enough pressure on their children to do well in school, while very few say American parents put too much pressure on their children. Indian Americans are more likely than other Asians to say American parents are too easy on their children (71%).

There is much less agreement about the pressure that Asian-American parents place on their children. Filipino Americans and Japanese Americans are more likely than other groups to say that parents from their own country of origin put about the right amount of pressure on their children to do well in school. In fact, majorities from each group (64% of Filipinos and 60% of Japanese) say parents from their group take the right approach with their children.

The balance of opinion is quite different among most other U.S. Asian groups. A solid majority of Korean Americans (60%) say Korean-American parents put too much academic pressure on their children; only 30% say they put the right amount of pressure on their children. Among Vietnamese Americans, 49% say Vietnamese-American parents put too much pressure on their children, while 35% say the amount of pressure is about right.

Indian Americans and Chinese Americans are more evenly divided. Roughly four-in-ten from each group say parents from their country of origin put too much pressure on their children. At the same time, roughly half from each group say these parents put about the right amount of pressure on their children.

The Scope of Parental Influence

For many Asian Americans, parental influence extends beyond pushing their young children to do well in school. Two-thirds of Asian Americans say parents should have at least some influence over a child’s career choice and nearly as many (61%) say parents should have some influence over their child’s choice of spouse.

Survey respondents were asked how much influence, if any, parents should have in choosing a child’s profession or line of work. Overall, 17% of Asian Americans say the parents should have “a lot of influence” in this regard, and an additional 49% say parents should have “some influence.” Roughly one-in-four say parents should not have too much influence in choosing a child’s profession, and 9% say parents should have no influence at all.

Asian Americans with adult children, for whom this may be less of a hypothetical question, are more likely than those who do not have children to say parents should have some influence over career choices. About two-thirds (68%) of parents with children ages 18 and older say parents should have at least some influence over what profession a child chooses. This compares with 58% of those with no children.

Asian Americans who have graduated from college are somewhat more likely than those without a college degree to say parents should have some influence over the career choices their child makes—70% of colleges graduates and 62% of non-college graduates say parents should have a lot of influence or some influence over their child’s career choices.

Perhaps the biggest gap in opinion on this measure of parental influence is between foreign-born and native-born Asian Americans. Those who were born outside of the U.S. are much more likely than those born in the U.S. to say parents should have some influence on their child’s choice of profession or line of work. Seven-in-ten Asian immigrants say parents should have a lot of (20%) or some (49%) influence. By contrast, 55% of U.S.-born Asian Americans say parents should have at least some influence in this regard (8% a lot, 47% some). This pattern is consistent within the Chinese-American community with a higher share of the foreign born saying parents should have some influence over their child’s career choice. However, among Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans, there is no significant difference between the native born and foreign born on the question of parental influence over career decisions.

Across U.S. Asian groups, Korean Americans are more likely than other Asians to say parents should have at least some influence over their child’s career choices. Three-quarters say parents should have a lot (22%) or some (53%) influence. Japanese Americans are less likely than other U.S. Asians to say parents should have influence over their children’s career choices (8% say a lot, 51% say some).

Respondents were also asked how much influence parents should have in choosing a child’s spouse. Overall, 61% of Asian Americans say parents should have at least some influence—17% say a lot of influence, and 45% say some influence. Women are somewhat more likely than men to say parents should have some influence over their child’s choice of a spouse (65% of women vs. 58% of men).

Asian Americans who have grown children are more likely than those without children to say a person should be influenced by his or her parents when it comes to choosing a spouse (66% vs. 54% say parents should have at least some influence). About one-in-five parents with children ages 18 and older say they should have a lot of influence. This compares with only 12% of those with no children.

Once again there is a substantial gap in opinion between foreign-born and native-born Asians regarding the scope of parental influence. Asian immigrants are much more likely than their U.S.-born counterparts to say that parents should have at least some influence over a child’s choice of a spouse (65% of foreign born vs. 49% of native born).

There are significant differences across U.S. Asian groups as well. Korean Americans are more likely than other Asians to say parents should have some influence over their child’s choice of a spouse (75% say a lot of or some influence). Japanese Americans are the least likely to say parents should have influence in this area; about half (48%) say parents should have a lot of influence or some influence.

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Released: June 19, 2012

Chapter 6: Political and Civic Life

More so than the general public, Asian Americans prefer an activist government, approve of President Obama’s job performance, are satisfied with the direction of the country and identify with the Democratic rather than the Republican Party. However, their political views are similar to those of the general public on two high-profile social issues—homosexuality and abortion.

When it comes to participation in the political process, Asian Americans are also distinctive—but for a different reason. Because about three-in-ten Asian American adults are not citizens and are therefore ineligible to vote, the group’s voting rate falls well below that of the general public. According to the Pew Research survey, about half of Asian Americans say they voted in the 2008 presidential election. By contrast, 67% of all U.S. adults say they voted that year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey.

This gap disappears, however, on non-electoral measures of civic and community engagement. Some 44% of Asian Americans say they have worked on a community problem over the past year, compared with 38% of the general public that says the same, according to Pew Research surveys.

This chapter explores attitudes about the direction of the country, the president’s job performance, political affiliation and ideology. It also looks at participation of Asian Americans in voting and in civic life. It provides breakdowns among the six largest Asian country of origin groups; among the native born versus the foreign born; citizens versus non-citizens; and wherever appropriate by party affiliation and demographic characteristics.

Direction of the Country

About four-in-ten (43%) Asian Americans are satisfied with the direction of the country, about half (48%) are dissatisfied and the remainder have no opinion. By contrast, just 21% of the U.S. general public are satisfied and three-quarters (75%) are dissatisfied, according to a January 2012 Pew Research survey.

Views about the direction of the country are strongly associated with partisanship. Asian-American Democrats are more satisfied than either Republicans or independents. The same pattern occurs among the general public.

On average, foreign-born Asian Americans are more likely than the native born to be satisfied with the direction of the country (46% vs. 32%). And recent immigrants are more likely than those who arrived before 2000 to be satisfied with the direction of the country (58% vs. 41%).

Among the U.S. Asian groups, Vietnamese Americans are more satisfied with the direction of the country than are other U.S. Asian groups. Filipino Americans and Japanese Americans are less satisfied with the direction of the country than are other country of origin groups. Chinese Americans fall in the middle, with 41% satisfied and 49% dissatisfied with the direction of the U.S. As with Asian Americans as a whole, Chinese Americans who were born in the U.S. are less satisfied than Chinese immigrants with the direction of the country (28% to 44% among foreign-born Chinese Americans).

Presidential Job Approval

A 54% majority of Asian Americans approve of the job Barack Obama is doing as president, 29% disapprove and 17% have no opinion.

Compared with the general public, Asian Americans are more likely to approve of President Obama’s job performance. Among the U.S. general public, 44% approve and 48% disapprove.

As expected, opinion about Obama’s job performance is strongly associated with partisanship. About three-quarters (77%) of Asian-American Democrats approve of Obama’s job performance, compared with 27% among Republicans and 51% among independents.

Differences across the six U.S. Asian groups are modest, with more approving than disapproving of Obama’s job performance for all but one Asian group. Filipino Americans are split evenly with 43% approving and 43% disapproving of Obama’s performance. Job approval is higher among Indian Americans (65% approve) than it is for the other five U.S. Asian groups.

Native- and foreign-born Asian Americans are about equally likely to approve of the president’s job performance.

Political Party and Ideology

Asian Americans tilt more to the Democratic than the Republican Party. About half (50%) of Asian Americans identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party, 28% identify with or lean toward the Republican Party, and about a fifth (22%) do not lean to either party.

The general public also tilts toward the Democratic Party, but not as strongly. Among the general public, 39% are Republicans or Republican leaners, and 49% are Democrats or Democratic leaners.

There is some variation in partisan leanings among U.S. Asian groups. Filipino Americans and Vietnamese Americans are evenly divided in partisanship. Four-in-ten (40%) Filipino Americans are Republicans or independents who lean to the Republican Party, 43% are Democrats or independents who lean to the Democrats. However, as with U.S.-born Asians overall, native-born Filipino Americans tend to identify with or lean to the Democrats (52% do so, compared with 35% who identify with or lean to the Republicans).

Among Vietnamese Americans, 35% identify with or lean to the Republicans, 36% identify with or lean to the Democrats, and about three-in-ten (28%) do not lean to either party. Vietnamese Americans who are registered to vote are somewhat more likely to be Republican, however; among this group, 47% identify with or lean to the Republicans, 32% identify with or lean to the Democrats, and 21% do not lean to either party.

Indian Americans are the most Democratic-leaning of the six U.S. Asian groups. Nearly two-thirds (65%) of Indian Americans identify with or lean to the Democrats, while 18% identify with or lean to the Republicans.

The tendency to identify with the Democratic more so than the Republican Party is stronger among younger than older Asian Americans. Among those 18 to 34, 55% identify or lean to the Democrats and 24% to the Republicans. Among those 55 years and older, 46% identify with or lean to the Democrats, 32% to the Republicans.

On the other hand, younger Asian Americans are more likely than older adults to be independents, suggesting that partisan ties among younger Asian Americans are relatively weak. Among those 18 to 34 years old, 42% identify as independents, 31% as Democrats and 14% as Republicans. This compares with 24% identifying as independents among those 55 years and older, 36% as Democrats and 23% as Republicans.

Partisan affiliation is roughly the same for Asian-American registered voters as it is for all Asian Americans. Among the registered, 32% are Republican or independents who lean to the Republicans, 52% are Democrats or independents who lean to the Democrats. Among those who are not registered, 29% are Republican or lean to the Republicans and 44% are Democrats or lean to the Democrats.

In keeping with their partisan leanings, Asian Americans tilt more toward liberal than conservative. Among all U.S. Asians, 31% describe their political views as liberal, while 24% say they are conservative and 37% say they are moderate.

Among the general public, ideology tilts in the opposite direction; 34% are conservative, 24% liberal and 37% moderate.

Younger Asian Americans (18 to 34 years) are especially likely to be liberal (39%). Some 17% of younger Asian Americans are conservative, and 35% are moderate. Older Asian Americans, ages 55 and older, are split more evenly across ideological groups with 30% conservative, 25% liberal and 35% moderate.

Differences between men and women on ideology are modest.

There is some variation in ideological leanings among U.S. Asian groups. Those of Indian, Vietnamese and Chinese origin are more likely to be liberal than conservative. Japanese Americans and Korean Americans are split evenly between liberals and conservatives. Filipino Americans are more likely to be conservative (33%) than liberal (20%).

In addition, a 55% majority of Asian Americans prefers a more activist government, meaning one that provides more services, while 36% prefer a smaller government that provides fewer services.

By contrast, 39% of adults in the general public prefer a government that provides more services, while 52% prefer a smaller government that provides fewer services.

Asian American men and women diverge in their views on this subject. About six-in-ten (61%) Asian-American women prefer an activist government, and 30% prefer a smaller government. Among men, about half (49%) prefer an activist government, 42% a smaller government. This pattern also occurs among the general public.

Among U.S. Asian groups, Japanese Americans are evenly divided in their views about the role of government (43% prefer a smaller government, 41% a more activist one). This pattern holds for both native- and foreign-born Japanese Americans. Vietnamese Americans and Korean Americans are the most lopsided in their preference for an activist government.

Civic Participation

More than four-in-ten (44%) Asian Americans say they have worked on a community problem in the past year. In the general population, 38% say they have done so.

On average, those born in the U.S. are more likely than immigrants to have worked on a community problem in the past year. Asian-American immigrants who arrived before 2000 are more likely than recent immigrants to have done so.

Asian Americans with higher family incomes are more likely than those with lower incomes to have worked on a civic problem (51% versus 38%).

Civic involvement is about the same across gender and age groups.

There are modest differences in civic involvement among U.S. Asian groups; nearly half of Filipino Americans and Indian Americans have worked on a civic problem (48% and 47%, respectively). While 39% of Chinese Americans have worked on a civic problem, there is a sizable difference in civic involvement between native- and foreign-born Chinese Americans; 48% of U.S.-born Chinese have worked on a civic problem, compared with 35% of Chinese immigrants.

The survey also asked respondents to specify whether these kinds of civic activities come from involvement with civic or religious organizations or both. Their responses suggest a mix of involvement in both kinds of organizations. Overall, more Asian Americans report working on a community problem through a civic organization (22%) than through a religious organization (7%), while more than one-in-ten have done both (13%).

Christian Asians in the U.S. (including Protestants, Catholics and other Christians) are more likely than Buddhists or the religiously unaffiliated to have worked on a community problem.

For the most part, those who have worked on a community problem are more likely to have done so through a civic organization than exclusively through a religious organization. The exception to this pattern occurs among evangelicals. Among evangelical Protestants, 10% have worked through a civic organization, twice as many (20%) have worked through a religious organization, and an additional 20% have worked through both kinds of organizations.

Voting Participation

Citizenship is, of course, a prerequisite for formal participation in the U.S. political system. As noted earlier, 70% of adult U.S. Asians are either U.S.-born or naturalized citizens, according to the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. Among those who are foreign born, 59% of U.S. Asians are naturalized citizens.

The Pew Research survey finds that 54% of Asian Americans are registered to vote and that half (50%) report voting in the 2008 presidential election.

Native-born Asian Americans are more likely than those who are foreign born to be registered to vote and to have voted in 2008.

Compared with the general public, fewer Asian Americans report being registered to vote or having voted in 2008, a difference that stems largely from lower rates of voter eligibility among Asian immigrants. Native-born Asian Americans are about equally likely as citizens in the general public to be registered. Seven-in-ten (70%) native-born Asian Americans say they are registered to vote. Among the general public, 71% are registered.

Asian-American citizens, whether native born or foreign born, are about equally likely as citizens in the general public to be registered to vote. Fully 72% of Asian-American citizens are registered, compared with 75% of citizens in the general public.

Asian-American citizens were a bit less likely than the general public to turn out for the 2008 presidential election, however. Among Asian-American citizens, two-thirds (66%) report having voted in the 2008 presidential election. Seven-in-ten (70%) of the general public said in other Pew Research surveys that they voted in the 2008 election.

There is modest variation in voting participation across U.S. Asian groups. About three-quarters or more Japanese-American citizens, a majority of whom are native born, are registered and report having voted in 2008. Among Vietnamese-Americans citizens, nearly two-thirds are registered and report voting in 2008.

Among U.S. citizens, native-born and foreign-born Asian Americans are about equally likely to be registered and to have voted in 2008.

In keeping with the Democratic leanings of Asian Americans, those voting in the 2008 election were more likely to have picked the Democratic Party candidate. In 2008, 63% of Asian Americans voted for Obama, 26% for Republican John McCain. In the general public, 54% report voting for Obama, 35% for McCain.

Obama’s support was strongest among Indian Americans; 84% of Indian-American voters chose Obama, to just 6% who say they voted for McCain. A majority of voters of Chinese, Japanese and Korean heritage voted for Obama over McCain in 2008. Filipino-American voters were more closely split: 50% for Obama, 39% for McCain. McCain fared better among Vietnamese Americans; 48% voted for him to 43% for Obama.

Views on Social Issues

Asian Americans’ views about homosexuality are similar to the views of the general public. Overall, 53% of Asian Americans say homosexuality should be accepted by society, and 35% say it should be discouraged.

U.S.-born Asians are much more accepting of homosexuality than are Asian immigrants. Among the native born, 76% say homosexuality should be accepted. This compares with 46% of the foreign-born Asian Americans.

As is the case with the general public, young Asian Americans are more accepting of homosexuality than are older generations. Among Asian Americans ages 18 to 34, fully two-thirds (67%) say homosexuality should be accepted. Those ages 35 to 54 are less accepting (53% say homosexuality should be accepted). Among those ages 55 and older, 39% say homosexuality should be accepted, while half (49%) say it should be discouraged.

Views differ somewhat across U.S. Asian groups. Japanese Americans and Filipino Americans are the most accepting of homosexuality—more than six-in-ten of each group say homosexuality should be accepted. Korean Americans are the least accepting—40% say homosexuality should be accepted, while 55% say it should be discouraged. Chinese Americans fall in the middle. As with Asian Americans as a whole, however, Chinese Americans born in the U.S. are more accepting of homosexuality than are Chinese immigrants (85% of native-born and 46% of foreign-born Chinese Americans say homosexuality should be accepted by society).

Acceptance of homosexuality is also closely tied to religious affiliation. Asian Americans who are not affiliated with a religion are among the most accepting. Fully 69% of unaffiliated Asian Americans say homosexuality should be accepted. At the opposite end of the spectrum are evangelical Protestants, only 24% of whom say homosexuality should be accepted. A solid majority of evangelicals (65%) say homosexuality should be discouraged. Among Asian Americans who are Buddhist or Hindu, narrow majorities say homosexuality should be accepted. Among Catholics, the balance of opinion is more toward acceptance: 58% say homosexuality should be accepted, and 30% say it should be discouraged.

Views on Abortion

Survey respondents were also asked about their views on abortion. About half (54%) of Asian Americans say abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances, and 37% say it should be illegal. U.S. Asians’ views on abortion are similar to those of the general public. Among all adults in the U.S., 51% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, and 43% say it should be illegal.

Younger Asian Americans are more likely than older Asian Americans to say abortion should be legal. And U.S.-born Asians are more likely than immigrant Asians to say abortion should be legal. Men and women hold similar views on abortion.

As is the case with views on homosexuality, opinion about abortion is closely linked to religious affiliation. Evangelical Protestant and Catholic Asian Americans are especially likely to say abortion should be illegal. (The same pattern is found among white evangelical Protestants in the general public.) A strong majority of Asian Americans who are Buddhist or Hindu or who have no religious affiliation say abortion should be legal in all or most circumstances.

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Released: June 19, 2012

Chapter 7: Religious Affiliation, Beliefs and Practices

This chapter is an adaptation of the overview of a larger report by the Pew Forum: “Asian Americans: A Mosaic of Faiths,” available at http://www.pewforum.org/Asian-Americans-A-Mosaic-of-Faiths.aspx.

As their numbers rise, Asian Americans are contributing to the diversity of the U.S. religious landscape. They have been largely responsible for the growth of non-Abrahamic faiths in the United States, particularly Buddhism and Hinduism. Counted together, Buddhists and Hindus today account for about the same share of the U.S. public as Jews (roughly 2%). At the same time, most Asian Americans belong to the country’s two largest religious groups: Christians and people who say they have no particular religious affiliation.

According to the survey, Christians are the largest religious group among U.S. Asian adults (42%), and the unaffiliated are second (26%). Buddhists are third, accounting for about one-in-seven Asian Americans (14%), followed by Hindus (10%), Muslims (4%) and Sikhs (1%). Followers of other religions make up 2% of U.S. Asians.

Not only do Asian Americans, as a whole, present a mosaic of many faiths, but each of the six largest subgroups of this largely immigrant population also displays a different religious complexion. A majority of Filipinos in the U.S. are Catholic, while a majority of Korean Americans are Protestant. About half of Indian Americans are Hindu, while about half of Chinese Americans are unaffiliated. A plurality of Vietnamese Americans are Buddhist, while Japanese Americans are a mix of Christians, Buddhists and the unaffiliated.

Indeed, when it comes to religion, the Asian-American community is a study in contrasts, encompassing groups that run the gamut from highly religious to highly secular. For example, Asian Americans who are unaffiliated tend to express even lower levels of religious commitment than unaffiliated Americans in the general public; 76% say religion is not too important or not at all important in their lives, compared with 58% among unaffiliated U.S. adults as a whole. By contrast, Asian-American evangelical Protestants rank among the most religious groups in the U.S., surpassing white evangelicals in weekly church attendance (76% vs. 64%). The overall findings, therefore, mask wide variations within the very diverse Asian-American population.

Asian Americans as a whole are less likely than Americans overall to believe in God and to pray on a daily basis, and a somewhat higher proportion of Asian Americans are unaffiliated with any religion (26%, compared with 19% of the general public). But some of these measures (such as belief in God and frequency of prayer) may not be very good indicators of religion’s role in a mostly non-Christian population that includes Buddhists and others from non-theistic traditions. Most Asian-American Buddhists and Hindus, for instance, maintain traditional religious beliefs and practices. Two-thirds of Buddhists surveyed believe in ancestral spirits (67%), while three-quarters of Hindus keep a shrine in their home (78%) and 95% of all Indian-American Hindus say they celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights.

At the same time, the Pew Research Center survey also finds evidence that Asian-American Buddhists and Hindus are adapting to the U.S. religious landscape in ways large and small:

• Roughly three-quarters of both Asian-American Buddhists (76%) and Asian-American Hindus (73%) celebrate Christmas.
• Three-in-ten (30%) of the Hindus and 21% of the Buddhists surveyed say they sometimes attend services of different religions (not counting special events such as weddings and funerals).
• About half (54%) of Asian Americans who were raised Buddhist remain Buddhist today, with substantial numbers having converted to Christianity (17%) or having become unaffiliated with any particular faith (27%).

How can many Asian-American Buddhists and Hindus maintain their traditional beliefs and practices while at the same time adopting aspects of America’s predominantly Christian religious culture, such as celebrating Christmas? Part of the answer may be that U.S. Buddhists and Hindus tend to be inclusive in their understanding of faith. Most Asian-American Buddhists (79%) and Asian-American Hindus (91%), for instance, reject the notion that their religion is the one, true faith and say instead that many religions can lead to eternal life (or, in the case of Buddhists, to enlightenment). In addition, the vast majority of Buddhists (75%) and Hindus (90%) in the survey say there is more than one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion.

By contrast, Asian-American Christians—particularly evangelical Protestants—are strongly inclined to believe their religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life. Indeed, Asian-American evangelicals are even more likely than white evangelical Protestants in the U.S. to take this position. Nearly three-quarters of Asian-American evangelicals (72%) say their religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life, while white evangelical Protestants are about evenly split, with 49% saying their religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life and 47% saying many religions can lead to eternal life.

Religious Affiliation

The survey finds a plurality of Asian Americans are Christian (42%), including 22% who are Protestant and a slightly smaller percentage who are Catholic (19%). About a quarter (26%) are unaffiliated (atheist, agnostic or nothing in particular). Roughly one-in-seven Asian Americans are Buddhist (14%) and one-in-ten are Hindu (10%). The remainder consists of Muslims, Sikhs, Jains and followers of numerous other faiths.

Thus, Asian Americans are more religiously diverse than the U.S. population, which is overwhelmingly Christian (75%). There are also substantial differences in religious affiliation among the largest subgroups of Asian Americans by country of origin.

As the charts on page 171 show, about half of Chinese Americans—the single largest subgroup, making up nearly a quarter of the total U.S. Asian population—are unaffiliated (52%). Filipinos—the second-largest subgroup, accounting for about one-in-five U.S. Asian children and adults—are mostly Catholic (65%). Indian Americans represent about 18% of all U.S. Asians, and about half identify as Hindu (51%); 59% say they were raised Hindu. Vietnamese Americans, who comprise 10% of U.S. Asians, include a plurality of Buddhists (43%). U.S. Koreans (also about 10% of all Asian Americans) are mostly Protestant (61%). Japanese Americans—the smallest of the six subgroups, representing about 7.5% of the U.S. Asian population—are more mixed: more than one-third are Christian (38%, including 33% who are Protestant), another third are unaffiliated (32%) and a quarter are Buddhist (25%).

These proportions generally reflect the religious composition of each group’s country of origin. The Philippines, for example, is heavily Catholic. In some cases, however, the percentage of Christians among Asian-American subgroups is much higher than in their ancestral lands. For example, 31% of the Chinese Americans surveyed are Christian; the vast majority, though not all, of this group come from mainland China, where Christians generally are estimated to constitute about 5% of the total population. Similarly, 18% of Indian Americans identify as Christian, though only about 3% of India’s total population is estimated to be Christian. The higher percentages of Christians are a result of the disproportionate number of Christians who choose to migrate to the United States and may also reflect religious switching by immigrants.

Religious Commitment

By several conventional measures, religion appears to be less important to Asian Americans than to the U.S. public as a whole. For example, fewer Asian Americans say religion is very important in their lives (39% of U.S. Asians vs. 58% of all U.S. adults), while more say religion is either not too important or not at all important to them (30% of U.S. Asians vs. 16% of the general public). In addition, the proportion of Asian Americans who are unaffiliated (26%) is higher than in the general public (19%). Asian Americans are also less likely to say they pray on a daily basis, and they report attending religious services at somewhat lower rates than the general public.

These relatively lower levels of religious engagement are not simply an effect of age or education. Analysis of the data shows that Asian Americans tend to be less religious on these measures than the general public even when controlling for age and level of educational attainment. For example, 29% of Asian Americans with some post-graduate education say that religion is very important in their lives, compared with 52% of all Americans who have studied at the post-graduate level.

The overall results for Asian Americans, however, mask big differences among Asian-American religious groups. Asian-American Buddhists and Asian-American Hindus, for example, are much less inclined than Asian-American Christians to say that religion plays a very important role in their lives.

Moreover, these figures underscore major differences in religious beliefs and practices between Christianity and other religions. Because Buddhists often view their religion in non-theistic terms—simply put, many see Buddhism as a path toward spiritual awakening or enlightenment rather than as a path to God—it is not surprising that the proportion of Asian-American Buddhists who say they believe in God or a universal spirit is lower (71%) than among Asian Americans who are not Buddhist (80%) and among the U.S. public overall (92%). Similarly, Buddhists and Hindus may regard prayer differently than Christians do. The ritual recitation of mantras (in both Buddhism and Hinduism) is not the same as prayer to a personal God in the Christian tradition, and this difference may help explain why a smaller number of Asian-American Buddhists and Hindus than Asian-American Christians report that they pray daily. And although attendance at religious services is higher among U.S. Asian Christians than among U.S. Asian Buddhists and Hindus, many of the Buddhists and Hindus report that they maintain religious shrines in their homes.

Asian-American Christians

On one common indicator of religious commitment, Asian-American Christians are slightly lower than U.S. Christians as a whole: 64% of Asian-American Christians say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 70% of Christians in the general public. But on some measures, Asian-American Christians are more committed than U.S. Christians as a whole. For example, six-in-ten Asian-American Christians say they attend services at least once a week (61%), compared with 45% of all U.S. Christians.

Asian-American Christians are also more inclined than U.S. Christians as a whole to say that living a very religious life is one of their most important goals (37% vs. 24%).

Among Asian-American Christians, the highest self-reported attendance rates are among evangelical Protestants, 76% of whom go to services at least once a week, followed by Catholics (60% at least once a week) and mainline Protestants (42%). All three Asian-American Christian groups attend services more frequently than do their counterparts in the general public.

On the other hand, Asian-American evangelicals are similar to white evangelical Protestants in the general public on some measures of religious commitment: Both groups are about equally likely to consider religion very important in their lives, and both groups are about equally likely to pray daily.

The same pattern holds among mainline Protestants. Asian-American mainline Protestants attend worship services more often (42% attend at least once a week) than do white mainline Protestants in the general public (25% attend at least once a week). The two groups are similar, however, when it comes to frequency of prayer and importance of religion in their lives.

Compared with white, non-Hispanic Catholics in the U.S., Asian-American Catholics exhibit higher levels of religious commitment on several measures. Roughly two-thirds of Asian-American Catholics (64%) say religion is very important in their lives, compared with 54% of white Catholics. Six-in-ten Asian-American Catholics say they attend worship services at least once a week, compared with about four-in-ten white Catholics (39%). Asian-American Catholics are also a bit more likely than white Catholics to pray daily (61% vs. 55%)

Asian-American Evangelicals

Asian-American evangelicals are more inclined than white evangelicals to say their religion is the one, true faith leading to eternal life (72% of Asian-American evangelicals vs. 49% of white evangelicals) and to believe that there is only one true way to interpret the teachings of their religion (53% vs. 43%). Asian-American evangelicals are just as likely as white evangelicals to say the Bible is the word of God, though Asian Americans are somewhat less inclined to say everything in Scripture should be taken literally, word for word.

About one-third of Asian-American evangelical Protestants are of Korean descent (34%). On most measures of religious commitment, Korean-American evangelicals look similar to Asian-American evangelicals from other countries of origin. In one regard, however, Korean evangelicals stand out from other Asian evangelicals: Korean evangelical Protestants are particularly likely to hold a literal view of the Bible; 68% express this view. By comparison, 44% of Asian-American evangelicals who are not Korean say the Bible should be interpreted literally.

Asian-American Buddhists

As noted above, Asian-American Buddhists are less inclined than Asian-American Christians to say religion is very important in their lives. But many nevertheless maintain distinctive religious beliefs and practices. Roughly two-thirds say they believe in ancestral spirits (67%) and reincarnation (64%). Nearly as many believe that spiritual energy can be located in physical things such as mountains, trees or crystals (58%) and see yoga—a practice more commonly associated with Hinduism—not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice (58%). About half believe in nirvana (51%), defined in the survey as “the ultimate state transcending pain and desire in which individual consciousness ends.” And although just 12% say they attend religious services at least once a week, 57% of Asian-American Buddhists say they have a shrine in their home.

On the other hand, meditation—a practice with deep roots in some, but not all, forms of Buddhism—seems to be relatively uncommon among Asian-American Buddhists. A solid majority says they seldom or never meditate (60%), and just one-in-seven engages in meditation on a daily basis (14%), a lower rate than among Asian-American Christians (27%) and Hindus (24%). It is possible, of course, that what Christians have in mind when they say they engage in meditation is different from what Buddhists mean by that term.

Buddhists of Vietnamese descent make up more than a third of all Asian-American Buddhists (38%); they stand out from other Asian-American Buddhists for their relatively high levels of religious commitment and practice. Vietnamese-American Buddhists are more likely than other Asian-American Buddhists to say religion is very important in their lives. Eight-in-ten have a shrine in their home, compared with 43% of other Asian-American Buddhists. About half of Vietnamese-American Buddhists fast during holy times (51%); just 10% of other Asian-American Buddhists do this. Vietnamese-American Buddhists are also somewhat more likely than other Asian-American Buddhists to pray at least once a day, to attend worship services at least occasionally and to attend services of different religious faiths. However, they are about as likely as other Asian-American Buddhists to engage in daily meditation (11% vs. 16% for other Asian-American Buddhists).

Asian-American Hindus

Asian-American Hindus also maintain some distinctive religious beliefs and practices. Yoga has a long tradition in Hinduism, and nearly three-quarters of U.S. Asian Hindus see it not just as exercise but as a spiritual practice (73%). More than half of Asian-American Hindus say they believe in reincarnation and moksha, defined in the survey as “the ultimate state transcending pain and desire in which individual consciousness ends” (59% each). About half also believe in astrology (53%), defined in the survey as the belief “that the position of the stars and planets can affect people’s lives.” Fewer believe in spiritual energy in physical things (46%) or in ancestral spirits (34%).

In addition, Hindus tend to practice their religion in different ways than do Christians. Although just 19% of Asian-American Hindus say they attend worship services at least once a week, nearly eight-in-ten (78%) have a shrine in their home. The celebration of Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is nearly universal among Indian-American Hindus (95%).

Overall, Asian-American Hindus say they pray less often than do members of the general public. About half of U.S. Hindus surveyed (48%) report praying every day. Among U.S. adults in the general public 56% report praying daily.

Nearly all Asian-American Hindus surveyed trace their heritage to India (93%). But the percentage of Asian-American Hindus who say that religion is very important in their lives (32%) is considerably lower than the percentage of Hindus in India who say this (69%, according to a 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes Project).

Unaffiliated Asian-Americans

About a quarter of U.S. Asians (26%) are religiously unaffiliated—meaning that they say they are atheist, agnostic or have no particular religion—which is somewhat higher than the share of unaffiliated in the general public (19%). It is important to realize, however, that “unaffiliated” does not necessarily mean “non-religious.” Many people who are unaffiliated with any particular religion nonetheless express religious beliefs (such as belief in God or reincarnation) and engage in religious practices (such as prayer or meditation).

But Asian Americans who are unaffiliated tend to report lower levels of interest in religion than unaffiliated Americans as a whole. For example, four-in-ten unaffiliated U.S. adults say religion is either somewhat important (26%) or very important (14%) in their lives. By comparison, less than a quarter of unaffiliated U.S. Asians say religion is either somewhat (18%) or very (4%) important to them. Unaffiliated U.S. Asians also are less likely than unaffiliated people in the general public to believe in God (49% vs. 67%) or to pray at least once a day (6% vs. 22%).

Asian Americans with no religious affiliation, like unaffiliated Americans as a whole, infrequently attend worship services and tend to believe the Bible is a human artifact rather than the word of God. Unaffiliated Asian Americans are more inclined than those in the general public to believe in yoga as a spiritual practice (42% vs. 28%). But they are no more likely to believe in reincarnation, astrology or the presence of spiritual energy in physical things such as mountains, trees or crystals.

Overall, the proportion of native-born U.S. Asians who are religiously unaffiliated (31%) is somewhat higher than among foreign-born Asian Americans (24%). Fully half of Chinese Americans (52%)—including 55% of those born in the U.S. and 51% of those born overseas—describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated. Because Chinese Americans are the largest subgroup of U.S. Asians, nearly half of all religiously unaffiliated Asians in the U.S. are of Chinese descent (49%). While some Chinese Americans come from Taiwan, Hong Kong and elsewhere, they come primarily from mainland China, which has very high government restrictions on religion and where much of the population is religiously unaffiliated.Fully eight-in-ten Chinese (80%) say they have no religion, according to the 2012 Pew Research Center’s Global Attitudes survey in China.

Though not nearly as high as among Chinese Americans, the percentage of Japanese Americans who say they are religiously unaffiliated (32%) is also higher than among the general public (19%). But among other Asian-American groups, the percentage that is unaffiliated either is closer to the general public (Korean Americans at 23%, Vietnamese Americans at 20%) or falls below the number for Americans as a whole (Indian Americans at 10%, Filipino Americans at 8%).

Religious Switching and Intermarriage

One-third of Asian adults in the U.S. no longer belong to the religious group in which they were raised (32%). By comparison, the Pew Forum’s 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” found that 28% of adults in the U.S. have switched religions. (In this analysis, Protestants raised in a denomination different from their current denomination, such as those raised as Methodist and now Presbyterian, are not counted as “switching.”) Conversion rates are higher among Japanese, Chinese and Korean Americans than among other U.S. Asian groups.

There have been substantial gains due to religious switching among Asian Americans who say they are not affiliated with any particular religion. Not quite one-in-five Asian Americans (18%) say they were raised with no affiliation as children, while 26% are unaffiliated today, a net gain of eight percentage points. A similar pattern prevails in the U.S. general public, where the share of the population that is unaffiliated also has grown through religious switching.

Asian-American Protestants also have seen net growth through switching: 22% of Asian Americans identify as Protestant today, compared with 17% who say they were raised Protestant.

Asian-American Catholics (with a net loss of three percentage points) and Hindus (with a net loss of two percentage points) have stayed roughly the same size, with little net impact from switching.

Asian-American Buddhists have experienced the biggest net losses from religious switching. Roughly one-in-five Asian Americans (22%) say they were raised as Buddhist, and 2% have switched to Buddhism from other faiths (or from having no particular religion). But 10% of Asian Americans have left Buddhism, for a net loss of eight percentage points.

Of all the largest Asian-American religious groups, Hindus have the highest retention rate. Fully 81% of Asian Americans who were raised Hindu remain Hindu today; 12% have become unaffiliated, and the rest have switched to other faiths (or did not give a current religion).

Religious switching is more common among native-born Asian Americans than among foreign-born Asian Americans. Among those born in the U.S., 40% have a religion different from the one in which they were raised. Among foreign-born Asian Americans, this figure is 30%.

Three-quarters of married Asian Americans (76%) have a spouse of the same religion, and 23% are married to someone of a different faith. By comparison, the Pew Forum’s 2007 “U.S. Religious Landscape Survey” found that roughly one-quarter of married people in the general public have a spouse with a different faith.

By far the lowest intermarriage rate is among Hindus. Nine-in-ten married Hindus (94%) have a spouse who is also Hindu. About eight-in-ten Asian-American Catholics (81%) and Protestants (also 81%) are married to fellow Catholics or Protestants, respectively. Seven-in-ten Buddhists are married to fellow Buddhists (70%) and 61% of those with no religious affiliation have a spouse who is also unaffiliated.

Social and Political Attitudes

The social and political attitudes of U.S. Asians vary by religious group. Asian-American evangelical Protestants (like white evangelicals) overwhelmingly hold conservative views on homosexuality and abortion. Unaffiliated Asian Americans (like the unaffiliated in the general public) overwhelmingly take liberal positions on these social issues. The other Asian-American religious groups tend to fall somewhere in between.

Among all Asian Americans, 53% say homosexuality should be accepted by society, and 35% say homosexuality should be discouraged by society. (By comparison, among the general public, 58% say homosexuality should be accepted, while 33% say it should be discouraged by society.) Unaffiliated U.S. Asians lean most strongly toward acceptance of homosexuality (69%). Smaller majorities or pluralities of Asian-American Catholics (58%), Buddhists (54%), Hindus (54%) and mainline Protestants (49%) agree. Among Asian-American evangelicals, however, the preponderance of opinion is reversed: 65% say homosexuality should be discouraged, and 24% say it should be accepted by society.

Similarly, Asian Americans as a whole tend to support abortion rights: 54% say it should be legal in all or most cases; 37% say it should be illegal in all or most cases. Support for legal abortion is highest among U.S. Asians who are religiously unaffiliated (74%), followed by Hindus (64%), Buddhists (59%) and mainline Protestants (50%). But the majority of Asian-American Catholics (56%) and evangelical Protestants (64%) say abortion should be illegal in most or all cases. Among the general public, by comparison, 51% say abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 43% say it should be illegal.

When it comes to political party identification, more Asian-American voters identify with or lean to the Democratic Party than the Republican Party. Among all Asian-American registered voters (which excludes non-citizens in this largely immigrant population), the Democratic Party holds a 20-percentage-point advantage (52% to 32%), a much wider margin than in the general public (49% to 45%).

Seven-in-ten Asian-American Hindu voters (72%) either consider themselves a Democrat or say they lean Democratic, as do 63% of unaffiliated U.S. Asians. Asian-American Buddhist voters also tilt strongly Democratic (56% vs. 27% Republican/lean Republican). Asian-American mainline Protestant and Catholic registered voters, like mainline Protestants and Catholics in the general public, are more evenly split. And evangelical Asian Americans lean strongly toward the GOP (56% vs. 28% Democratic/lean Democratic), though not as strongly as do white evangelical Protestant registered voters (66% Republican/lean Republican vs. 24% Democratic/lean Democratic).

In terms of political ideology, Asian Americans also tend to be more liberal than the general public. Among all U.S. Asians, 31% describe their political views as liberal and 24% as conservative. In the U.S. public, the balance is reversed: 24% say they are liberal, 34% conservative.

Among Asian-American religious groups, the unaffiliated, Hindus and Buddhists tilt to the liberal side, while Asian-American evangelicals tilt conservative (16% liberal vs. 45% conservative), though they are not as conservative as white evangelical Protestants (7% liberal vs. 61% conservative). Again, Asian-American mainline Protestants and Catholics are more evenly split, and their ideological leanings look very similar to those of white mainline Protestants and U.S. Catholics overall.

Not surprisingly, given these patterns in partisanship and ideology, Asian Americans strongly supported Democrat Barack Obama over Republican John McCain in the 2008 election. Of those who say they went to the polls, 63% report that they voted for Obama, 26% for McCain. All the Asian-American religious groups favored Obama with the exception of evangelical Protestants, who supported McCain by a 10-point margin (45% McCain vs. 35% Obama). The highest margins of voting for Obama were among Hindus (85% Obama vs. 7% McCain) and unaffiliated U.S. Asians (72% Obama vs. 18% McCain).

While Asian-American Hindus are much more likely to identify with or lean toward the Democratic Party than the Republican Party and voted overwhelmingly for Obama, their views on the size of government are more mixed. Asked whether they would prefer to have a smaller government providing fewer services or a bigger government providing more services, 46% of Asian-American Hindus say they would prefer a bigger government, while 41% say they would prefer a smaller one.

On the question of whether they think of themselves as “a typical American or very different from a typical American,” U.S. Asians overall are more likely to see themselves as very different (53%) rather than as typical (39%).

Views on this question are strongly linked to whether an individual was born in the U.S. or outside of the U.S.; foreign-born Asian Americans are more likely than those born in the United States to see themselves as “very different” (60% vs. 31% for U.S. born). In addition, religious affiliation is also associated with attitudes on this question. Asian Americans who are Christian are more likely to see themselves as typical Americans than either Buddhists or Hindus, even when place of birth and length of time living in the U.S. are held constant.

Socioeconomic Characteristics of Religious Groups

In terms of education and income, Hindus are at the top of the socioeconomic ladder—not only among Asian-American religious groups but also among all the largest U.S. religious groups. Fully 85% of Asian-American Hindu adults are college graduates, and more than half (57%) have some post-graduate education. That is nearly five times the percentage of adults in the general public who have studied at the post-graduate level (12%) and 23 percentage points higher than U.S. Jews, the second-ranking religious group in terms of post-graduate education.

As the accompanying chart shows, all the largest Asian-American religious groups are above the U.S. average in post-graduate education. The differences among Asian Americans, nevertheless, are striking. The share of Asian-American Hindus who have studied at the post-graduate level is 40 percentage points higher than among Asian-American Buddhists and Catholics. This reflects the great diversity of origins and circumstances among U.S. Asians, including some who have come to the United States as refugees or unskilled workers and others who have come to pursue a higher education or opportunities in the high-tech industry, science, engineering and medicine.

The high socioeconomic status of Asian Americans in general, and of Hindus in particular, is due at least in part to selective immigration. Many Asian immigrants come to the U.S. through the H-1B visa program, which is designed to encourage immigration of engineers, scientists and other highly skilled “guest workers” from abroad. In 2011, for example, India accounted for more than half of all the H-1B visas granted. The vast majority of U.S. Hindus are of Indian descent, and Indian Americans as a whole are a well-educated, affluent group. But Indian-American Hindus tend to have even more years of education and higher household incomes than other (non-Hindu) Indian Americans: 51% of Hindu Indian-American adults live in households earning at least $100,000 annually, compared with 34% of non-Hindu Indian Americans, and 58% of Hindu Indian Americans have studied at the post-graduate level, compared with 36% of non-Hindu Indian Americans. To some extent, this may reflect the relatively high socioeconomic status of Hindus in India.

Asian-American Buddhists are a much different population. Many belong to a wave of immigrants who came to the United States as refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries.

As a consequence, their educational attainment levels and household incomes tend to be lower; 34% hold a bachelor’s degree, and 27% report household earnings of at least $75,000—including 15% with incomes of at least $100,000 (see the full demographic table on page 38). More than a third of Asian-American Buddhists (37%) report household incomes of less than $30,000 annually, compared with 12% among Asian-American Hindus. Only 36% of Asian-American Buddhists rate their personal financial situation as good or excellent, about half the share of Asian-American Hindus who do so (70%).

It should be noted, however, that Buddhists in the United States also include many native-born, non-Asian converts who tend to have relatively high education and income levels. By the Pew Forum’s estimate, about two-thirds (67%–69%) of all U.S. Buddhists are Asian American—the group covered by this survey. Thus, the survey presents a portrait of Asian-American Buddhists, not of U.S. Buddhists as a whole.

Asian-American Christians generally fall between Buddhists and Hindus in terms of educational attainment and measures of financial well-being. About half of the Christians surveyed are college graduates (49%) and about a third report household incomes of at least $75,000 (37%). There is little difference in the socioeconomic status of Asian-American Catholics and Protestants.

But the Protestant category can be further broken down into evangelical (about 13% of Asian Americans) and mainline (9%). Asian-American mainline Protestants are more likely than Asian-American evangelicals to rate their personal finances as good or excellent (57% vs. 42%), although differences in household incomes between these two groups are not statistically significant.

Religiously unaffiliated Asian Americans tend to have relatively high levels of education (58% are college graduates) and household income (43% at least $75,000), though not as high as Hindu Asian Americans.

The Pew Forum estimates that Buddhists make up between 1.0% and 1.3% of the adult population in the U.S., and that 67% to 69% of all U.S. Buddhists are Asian Americans. Hindus make up between 0.5% and 0.8% of the U.S. adult population, and between 85% and 97% of all U.S. Hindus are Asian American, according to the Pew Forum’s estimates.