CENSUS-BASED PROFILE DEPICTS POVERTY, LANGUAGE BARRIERS AND OTHER HURDLES AMID RAPID GROWTH FOR NEW YORK CITY�S BANGLADESHI AMERICAN POPULATION

Asian American Federation Analysis of Recently-Released Census Data Offers Perspective on Group Affected by Post-September 11th Climate

NEW YORK � New York City�s Bangladeshi American population faced daunting economic and social challenges while experiencing the fastest growth among the city�s Asian groups in the last decade, according to a census-based profile published today.

The profile from the Asian American Federation of New York, a nonprofit leadership organization, presents results of an analysis of recently-released 2000 census data and other U.S. Census Bureau information. One of a series of population portraits prepared by the Federation�s Census Information Center (CIC), it describes an immigrant community with much lower incomes, higher poverty rates, less English ability and larger households than the city�s general population. The profile is available at www.aafny.org.

�Our profile offers useful insight on a population with substantial needs,� said Cao K. O, executive director of the Asian American Federation. �The demographic portrait sets the stage for understanding the vulnerability of New York City�s Bangladeshi American community today as it also faces effects of post-September 11th job discrimination, government policies and bias crimes. Low per capita income, child poverty, and language isolation for the community warrant serious attention.�

Among major facts (referring to 2000 census data unless noted otherwise), the profile states that:
• From 1990 to 2000, New York City�s Bangladeshi population increased by 471 percent (from 4,955 to 28,269)�exceeding growth rates for other Asian groups, 71 percent for all Asians and 9 percent for all residents city-wide.
• The New York metropolitan area�s Bangladeshi population was the largest in the United States.
• About 85 percent of Bangladeshi New Yorkers were foreign-born, and more than three-quarters (77 percent) of these immigrants came to the United States from 1990 to 2000. Some 30 percent of all Bangladeshi immigrants in the city in 2000 were naturalized U.S. citizens � compared with 45 percent of all foreign-born city residents.
• Bangladeshi New Yorkers� per capita income was $10,479 � less than half of the city-wide figure ($22,402).
• Nearly one-third (31 percent) of all Bangladeshis in the city lived in poverty � surpassing 21 percent of all New Yorkers. Among Bangladeshis, 38 percent of children and 35 percent of senior citizens experienced poverty �compared with 30 percent of all children and 18 percent of all senior citizens in New York City.
• The majority (60 percent) of all Bangladeshi New Yorkers � compared with 24 percent of all city residents � had �Limited English Proficiency.�
• New York City�s Bangladeshi households had an average of 4.2 occupants � far exceeding 2.6 occupants city-wide.
• Queens was home to 65 percent of the city�s Bangladeshis, followed by Brooklyn, with 22 percent of the population; the Bronx, with 9 percent; Manhattan, with 4 percent; and Staten Island, with 0.2 percent.