Posted by Elena del Valle on August 11, 2010
Photos: Babyspot.com, Todobebe.com
Our nation’s birth rate has declined in the past 20 years. During that time period new mothers have become more likely to be older, better educated and less likely to be white. Fewer white women are having babies while an increasing number of babies are born of Hispanic moms, according to a recently released report. One in four births in 2008 was to a Hispanic mother. Although white women still represented more than half of mothers of newborns that year that was less than the 65 percent of white women who gave birth in 1990.
More than half of mothers of newborns in 2006 had spent some time in college which was an improvement over the 41 percent of women who had some college education in 1990. Older mothers of newborns, those 35 years of age and older, were much more likely to have some college education (71 percent).
James Rivera, co-founder, Babyspot
“I do see evidence of your findings, our site agrees with most of your data. Our traffic has increased in the last year, it’s around 30 percent increase,” said James Rivera, co-founder and chief executive officer, BabySpot, Inc. when asked if he sees evidence of these trends.
Women are also waiting longer to have babies than they did twenty years ago. While in 1990, teenagers had a higher share of all births (13 percent) than did women 35 years of age and older (9 percent) by 2008, the reverse was true with 10 percent of births to teens and 14 percent to women ages 35 and older. This increase in older mothers held across ethnic groups.
More unmarried women by far (41 percent) had babies in 2008 than in 1990 (28 percent). Black unmarried women were the most likely to have babies compared white and Hispanics.
“There are 4M (million) births per year and 1M (million) are to Spanish speaking parents, 25 percent of the newborns. This has been a constant for the past two years and is based on U.S. Census Live Birth Statistics,” said Cynthia Nelson of Todobebe.com. “We have a 20 percent increase in moms that join Todobebe in the past year and about 55 percent of our moms are pregnant at any one give time. There is no one month during the year that there are more births with the exception of the slight increase in September (December holidays trigger this event).”
In 2008, there were 4.3 million births in our country slightly more than in 1990 when there were 4.2 million. Between 2003 to 2007 the number of births increased each year and then declined by about 66,000; the researchers believe the decrease is the result of the economic downturn.
Immigrants tend to have higher birth rates than the native born although those rates have declined in recent years. The share of births to foreign-born mothers, 15 percent of U.S. births in 1990, grew 60 percent through 2004. In 2004, births to foreign-born women represented the majority of Hispanic (61 percent) and Asian (83 percent) births.
Although it is hard to think about our nation’s demographic profile in 40 years, according to Pew Research Center population projections and assuming current trends remain steady, 82 percent of the nation’s population growth through 2050 will be produced by immigrants who arrived in our country after 2005 and their descendants. The researchers estimate 142 more million people will fuel our population between 2005 and 2050; of these 50 million will be the children and grandchildren of new immigrants.
The report, The New Demography of American Motherhood, was written by Gretchen Livingston and D’Vera Cohn of the Pew Research Center based on data from the National Center for Health Statistics and the Census Bureau. It also included the findings of a national Pew Research Center survey about parenthood.
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 2, 2010
Debt as Percent of GDP – click to enlarge
These days everybody is talking or thinking about debt. The debt of the United States is a concern for many as our country falls deeper into debt to pay off wars and save banks, mortgage companies, car makers and the like from supposed failure. On the other side of the pond European nations like Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Ireland have been in the news lately due to their precarious debt related status.
The debt of nations is but one part of the problem. Across the west companies and individuals have over extended themselves, borrowing, some believe irresponsibly, in search of ever higher returns in the case of greedy companies and investors. Consumers have gotten into debt to buy bigger cars, houses, trips and some of the many trappings of today’s consumer driven society.
According to a recent an article in The Economist relying on data from the McKinsey Global Institute Ireland and Iceland approached the debt limit of eight and as much as ten times their gross domestic product (GDP). They are the the most noteworthy but not the only ones.
British bank debt as it relates to the country’s economy is significant as is the level of debt of corporations in Spain. The relationship between public and private sectors and debt issues is complex. If the government is needed to hold up companies with too much debt it will have an impact on countries with economies that appear healthy or less at risk than that of their neighbors.
Among countries with high debt to GDP ratios and a worsening outstanding debt compared to economic growth according to the article, Spain has surpassed Greece as the country in the worst position.
What does this mean to the average person in North America and Europe? Debt has caught up with governments, companies and consumers. Things are changing. No spending or cautious spending has replaced over-the-top spending. But astute observers say the many decades of living now with the promise to pay later will have a long term effect. Government promises and private sector conservatism now aren’t enough given that governments are having to come to the rescue of private sector behemoths and in many instances the countries themselves are in turbulent economic waters.
At the same time North America and many nations in Europe have large aging populations in varying proximity to their retirement years. That will mean fewer productive people in the workforce and more retirement dollars and healthcare dollars draining the system during belt tightening times. In all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries total spending on healthcare is rising faster than economic growth, causing the average ratio of health spending to GDP to rise 7.8 percent in 2000 to 9 percent in 2008. The causes behind the rising health spending, technological change, population expectations and population aging, are expected to continue to drive costs higher in the future.
In some countries the falling GDP and rising healthcare costs led to a marked increase in the ratio of health spending to GDP. For example, in Ireland, the percentage of GDP assigned to health increased from 7.5 percent in 2007 to 8.7 percent the following year while in Spain the increase was from 8.4 percent to 9 percent for the same years. In 2008, the United States spent $7,538 per person on health more than double the $3,000 average of all OECD countries. Although Norway and Switzerland, the next generous with healthcare budgets, spent 50 percent more than the OECD average.
The solution, some believe, is to grow economies while reducing spending. How will social benefit heavy societies like those in western Europe deal with growth requirements and the debt burden? Will they cut back healthcare, social and retirement benefits?
Entrepreneurs, an important source of future intellectual and financial wealth, may struggle since more than half of all new firms rely on debt finance, according to The Economist. Forward looking analysts indicate that to survive businesses will have to adapt to the economic situation and new mindset. In an ever tighter corporate environment with increased oversight and fewer entrepreneurial windows, it is likely marketers too will need to adjust to the new reality, demonstrating their worth with measurable results.
Posted by Elena del Valle on July 28, 2010
Freshmen Enrollment Growth by Ethnicity/Race – click to enlarge
What are young people in America to do during this recession? Enroll in college. There is a college boom taking place and it is being driven by minorities, according to a recent Pew Research Center
article based on the organization’s analysis of new data from the United States Department of Education.
There was an increase of 144,000 freshman students from the fall of 2007 to the fall of 2008, the first year of the recession, at the nation’s 6,100 post-secondary institutions representing a 6 percent increase, the largest in 40 years. Almost three-quarters of the growth was from minority freshmen.
From 2007 to 2008 although there was only a 3 percent increase in freshman college enrollment of whites, minority enrollment was noteworthy. Hispanics enrollment at post secondary institutions grew 15 percent, blacks enrollment grew 8 percent, and Asian enrollment grew 6 percent.
Of course the growth is not spread evenly across the country. Cities with historically large ethnic, especially Hispanic, populations may have markedly higher increases and an overall higher ethnic presence. An example is South Florida.
Click on image to enlarge
“MDC’s enrollment growth reflects the community we serve: more than 80 percent of Miami-Dade’s residents are racial or ethnic minorities, with Hispanics predominating. In the 2000 Census 57 percent of Miami-Dade County residents were Hispanic, increasing to 62 percent in the latest estimates. Hispanics at MDC have increased steadily as a proportion of overall student enrollment from 2007 through 2009, and even more so as a percentage of freshman enrollment,” said Margaret Mannchen, associate director, Institutional Research Operations, Miami Dade College, one of the largest post-secondary institutions in the country in both number of students enrolled (170,000) and number of associates degrees awarded
“Now Hispanics are about 72 percent of our first-time-in-college students. Looking at all credit students, we see both African American and White Non-Hispanic percentages declining slightly from Fall 2007 through Fall 2009. In 2009, however, the proportion of African American freshmen was starting to show an increase, after a slight decline in 2008.”
The growth is not surprising given the demographic profile of the United States. As the white population ages it is the minority youth that fuel the nation’s growth. In addition, Census Bureau surveys indicate the Hispanic high school completion rate reached an all-time high of 70 percent in October 2008, a 2.5 percent increase over 2007 and the largest increase of any ethnic or racial group.
Although in the past minority students tended to seek community colleges and trade schools, the growth from 2007 to 2008 was at all basic levels of post secondary education. At the same time, a lower percent of white freshmen enrolled in less-than-four-year schools in 2008 (53 percent) than in 2007 (55 percent); and in four-year schools in 2008 (62 percent) than in 2007 (64 percent).
Of course not all institutions of higher learning showed an increase for that time period. One private university in South Florida had a decrease in enrollment numbers.
“Unfortunately I don’t know that 2008 would be a good bench as nationally there was a decrease in overall enrollment due to the financial crisis and the availability of credit. The numbers picked up again sharply for 2009 and we are currently tracking for 2010 at about a 2-3% increase in enrollment. As I look at the applications coming in we are definitely seeing an increase in minority applications and matriculations,” said Andre Lightbourn, dean, Enrollment Management, Saint Thomas University in Broward County.
“According to our institutional fact book amongst the broad categories Black and Hispanic we are probably about flat for 2007, 2008 & 2009. The numbers have increased for foreigners and other ethnic groups. The number of white students has declined in the same period for the last three academic years 2007, 2008 & 2009.”
An executive summary of the Pew Research Center analysis, written by Richard Fry, was published June 16, 2010. The Pew Research Center, a self described nonpartisan provider of information on “the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on July 21, 2010
Childless women by educational level – click to enlarge
Graphs: Pew Research Center
In the United States, white women are among all ethnic and racial groups the most likely not to have had a child over the past decade. Over that time period the gap between groups has narrowed with childless rates rising more rapidly for black, Hispanic and Asian women, than for white women. Not surprisingly, women who have never married are most likely to be childless. At the same time, those rates have declined over the past decade and the rate of childlessness has risen for married women and women who were married at one time, according to a recent report from the Pew Research Center.
In 2008, 20 percent or one in every five white women between 40 and 44 years of age was childless. That same year, 17 percent of black and Hispanic women and 16 percent of Asian women in that age group were also without children. Between 1994 and 2008, the rates of childlessness increased more for nonwhites than for whites: the childlessness rates for black women and for Hispanic women went up by more than 30 percent while the increase among white women was 11 percent.
Childless women by race/ethnicity – click to enlarge
This is a sharp contrast to the rates in the 1970s when only 10 percent of white women reached the end of their childbearing years without ever becoming a mother. Although the most educated women are the most likely never to give birth to a child, the exception to the childlessness rates increase was among women with advanced university degrees where the rate fell in the past 10 years. In 2008, 24 percent of women ages 40 to 44 with a master’s, doctoral or professional degree had not had children, a decline from 31 percent in 1994.
The researchers believe childlessness increased for several reasons. Women today endure less social pressure to have children than in past decades. Improved contraceptive methods and better job options for women were also cited as influencing women’s decision to not have children. Women, especially educated women, have delayed marriage and having children, the researchers explain in the report.
Another factor is that some women do not give birth but raise adopted children. In 2008, there were 61.6 million biological children, 1.6 million adopted children and 2.5 million stepchildren in United States homes (2008 American Community Survey).
The report, Childlessness Up Among All Women; Down Among Women with Advanced Degrees, was written by Gretchen Livingston and D’Vera Cohn of the Pew Research Center and released June 25, 2010. They based their findings on Current Population Survey data. The Pew Research Center, a self described nonpartisan provider of information on “the issues, attitudes and trends shaping America and the world.”
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 23, 2010
By Harald H. Vogt
Founder and chief marketer, Scent Marketing Institute
Harald H. Vogt, founder and chief marketer, Scent Marketing Institute
Photo: Scent Marketing Institute
Information transported via our perception of scent does not require translation. There is no “Press 1 for English, 2 for Spanish” when it comes to recognizing the scent of fresh baked bread, ultimately drawing us to it’s source, the bakery on the corner or in the supermarket. Scent can be a guide, or it can create a desire, even an emotion without a word being spoken.
Scents are processed in the limbic system of our brain, which happens to be responsible for the decision-making process and for our emotions. With that “internal wiring” already in place it takes fairly little to trigger a person to react in a certain way.
Click here to read the entire article Scent communication – no language barriers apply!
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 21, 2010
Sifting the Data – click on image to enlarge
Charts, photo: GlobalHue
A Michigan multicultural advertising agency, GlobalHue, invested a substantial budget on a survey last year to find out what America’s cultural and lifestyle profile looks like. As a result agency executives believe there is a blurring of ethnic boundaries in our country. Based on the 2009 survey conducted by an outside company, the agency has concluded bicultural Hispanics are among the most successful and optimistic groups.
The survey of four major population segments was designed to create a comprehensive cultural map of the country to provide marketers updated information. Based on the findings the researchers believe that thanks to bicultural Hispanics’ option to select the elements they prefer from various cultures this group is among the most successful and optimistic groups of those surveyed.
The study indicates the nation is increasing complex and is made up of distinct segments; that the population is splitting into a Bifurcation Chasm of the Engaged/Optimistic and the Disengaged/Pessimistic; that to predict consumer behavior, marketers must understand consumer groups by their current situation and by how they will be prepared to deal with the bifurcation, believed to be growing, in wealth and possibilities.
Specialists identified eight subsegments for each of the four segments surveyed resulting in 32 subsegments the result of the rapidly changing and diversified consumer market. Although they are aware of the cultural differences between people in the four segments, the researchers identified mixed-cluster groups of like-minded Americans in seven macrosegments with common mindsets, beliefs and values that impact consumers’ feelings of optimism and pessimism and influence the degree of engagement in their communities.
For example, the macrosegment they called Haves represents 20 percent of the U.S. population, or 71 million people. It is the most optimistic and engaged group and enjoys the best economic and educational level. This segment, which they consider the most attractive initially for marketers, is also the most balanced across the different groups: Asian, 31percent ; Hispanic, 16.5 percent; African American, 21.5 percent; and non-Hispanic Whites, 16 percent.
Don Coleman, chairman, GlobalHue
“To understand the New America today requires more than a single cultural lens,” said Don Coleman, chairman, GlobalHue. “Instead, it is as meaningful to look for cross-ethnicity similarities as it is to acknowledge cultural differences. With this report, marketers can clearly see a path for connecting with consumer segments from different groups simultaneously through cultural relevance.”
According to the study, the most successful and optimistic Hispanic segments, as self-identified, are bicultural and feel empowered to pick and choose from multiple cultures. At the same time, the most acculturated Hispanic segments are the least successful and most isolated. These are Hispanics who are also the least likely to identify with a community, be bilingual or have strong ties to a country of origin. Many optimistic Hispanics are disengaged, young and like technology.
“The Hispanic segment of the study upends commonly held notions of acculturation,” said Laura Marella, vice chairman, GlobalHue. “The message to marketers is that greater acculturation is, in fact, not a proxy for high-value consumers.”
If Bifurcation Continues – click on image to enlarge
To complete the study interviewers contacted 8,309 people online and by phone, in a nationally representative sample, between June 22 and July 15, 2009, broken down by ethnicity as follows: Africanics: 1,777 respondents; Asian: 1,381; Latino: 1,994; non-Hispanic White: 2,748; and other: 409.
A questionnaire with 287 questions covered demographic information, lifestyle habits and attitudes, behaviors regarding media consumption and usage, and technology reliance and usage, as well as shopping, traveling, and entertainment habits. It included Trompenaars Hampten-Turner’s seven cultural dimensions and a modified Myers-Briggs personality profile.
GlobalHue, a marketing communications agency, has 390 employees and offices in Detroit and New York. It has four divisions: GlobalHue Africanic; GlobalHue Latino; GlobalHue Asian; and GlobalHue Next. In 2009, GlobalHue’s capitalized billings were $833.7 million. GlobalHue clients include Verizon, Walmart, Chrysler Group LLC, U.S. Navy, Bermuda Department of Tourism, U.S. Census Bureau, FedEx, MGM Grand Detroit and Merck.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 18, 2010
Bicycle Tire by Julio Figueroa Beltrán
Photos: Accentmarketing
Driven by a former agency principal turned artist a Miami ad agency established Accent Alternative Art Space, a not-for-profit art initiative focused around real estate dedicated to non-commercially driven artwork by emerging and mid-career artists. Those behind the project hope it will foster “ideas that are outside of the mainstream scope of artists’ commercial galleries while harnessing local talent and culture.”
The mission of the project is to bring unknown, local talent to the forefront of the community’s art scene. Participating artists spend no monies to exhibit and receive all the proceeds of any sales, according to a project spokesperson. Killing and Salting, the premiere exhibit, opened last week featuring the work of seven local Cuban-American artists.
Astronaut by Julio Figueroa Beltrán
“There is so much unique art outside of the mainstream art scene that goes unnoticed,” said Esteban “Steve” Blanco, founding partner, Accentmarketing. “Our goal is to catapult these talented artists into the thick of it- no competition at all. In fact, we welcome all art galleries to come and pick up our featured artists.”
Blanco retired in 1993 and dedicated himself to art. When the warehouse adjacent to his art studio became available, he invested in the space to offer it to promising artists as a platform to build their work. According to an agency representative, artists of all creeds and races are encouraged to submit their work for consideration. Blanco will be the official decision maker on all artists to be selected for inclusion in exhibits. Agency executives hope the initiative will promote an artistic culture among its staff and contribute to Miami’s art scene.
“Accent Alternative Art Space is truly a passion project that is 110 percent committed to enriching Miami’s local art community as well as helping fellow artists,” said Diana Ocasio-Fant, executive vice president and creative director, Accentmarketing. “As an agency of creative individuals we want to reach out to the community regarding the importance of the arts, so this is a win-win for us because we can develop our own art while helping others do the same.”
Door Collage by Miguel Angel Báez
Accentmarketing, an ad agency based for 20 years in Coral Gables, a ritzy municipality in Miami, has painters, graphic art designers, creative writers, musicians and performing artists within the company ranks. Established in 1994, the Hispanic marketing communications agency has offices in Miami, Los Angeles and Detroit. Clients include the American Heart Association, Dunkin Donuts, Farmers Insurance, GobiernoUSA.gov, Chevrolet, the California Association of Realtors, Kaiser Permanente, Brown-Forman and the U.S. Navy.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 14, 2010
A HispanicMPR podcast is listed on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. See
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 14, 2010
Thinking about a domain for your organization or business? I always thought .com was king. The most recent Internet Systems Consortium Internet Domain Survey of April 2010 says otherwise. Worldwide there were 264,382,845 network (.net) domains compared to 147,031,831 commercial (.com) domains, making .net domains the leader by a wide margin.
The rest of the top 10 domains are all country designations, in descending order: Japan (54,067,517), Italy (22,804,359), Germany (21,462,183), Brazil (18,848,263), China (15,309,629), France (15,006,654), Australia (13,126,248), and Mexico (12,677,932). The Netherlands came next followed by educational (.edu) domains which accounted for the largest number of generic domains.
The Japanese domain .jp has the most hosts, more than twice as many as the Italian domain. Among the Latin American countries Mexico was in tenth place, Argentina was eighteenth (6,012,497), Colombia thirty-fifth (2,535,022) and Chile was forty-ninth (1,043,420). In case you are wondering there is a United States (.us) domain which appeared in the fortieth slot (2,169,238). What about organization domains (.org)? Right below domains for United States with 2,139,268 hosts.
Posted by Elena del Valle on June 9, 2010
Click on image to enlarge
Photo: Aflac
Last month, Aflac launched a Spanish language website targeting Spanish dominant Latinos in the United States. The provider of guaranteed-renewable insurance seeks to offer “the same quality of interaction and experience, as we offer on our English site.” The development of the English site began in summer 2009 and was launched January 2010; the development of the Spanish language site began the last quarter of 2009. The interactive Spanish-language pages were designed “to inform Hispanic consumers in a culturally relevant way about how Aflac is different from other types of insurance.”
A team with members from New Media, IT, and Emerging Markets departments worked closely with staff from Conexión and FirstBorn, the company’s public relations and digital agencies respectively. The Spanish language website invites visitors to discover why they should purchase its insurance services, and link for visitors to find and communicate with an agent. A section titled Nuestras Historias (Our Stories) features videos of five women and three men agents in California, Florida, New York and Texas who discuss their work with the company.
In addition to press releases the company is planning to promote the new Spanish language website, aflacenespanol.com, to its primary audiences: consumers, business owners and bilingual recruits for the remainder of this year. According to a company representative, the online strategies they have in mind differ by target group and include SEM (search engine marketing), banner ads, and email marketing.
When asked by email how many visitors they anticipate on the Spanish language website a company representative responded: “We expect the site to be well received by Spanish speakers and are putting significant efforts to promote it. At this point, we are building traction and are looking at this as a long term investment in the Hispanic community. It is a bit early to speculate on specific traffic goals.”
According to Aflac.com, 70 percent of employees at the insurance company are women. Women account for more than half of the company’s management and 30 percent of senior executives. The site indicates minorities make up over 40 percent of the company workforce.
Aflac is short for American Family Life Assurance Company. Established by brothers John, Paul and Bill Amos in 1955, Aflac is a Fortune 500 company incorporated is an international holding company based in Columbus, Georgia. The company, the insurer of 50 million people worldwide according to its website, has a presence in all 50 United States and U.S. Territories as well as more than 75,300 licensed agents; it had assets at the end of 2009 of more than $84 billion and annual revenues of more than $18 billion.
