Social Profile of Next Generation of White and Hispanic Leaders
Fe Y Vida Analyzes Research on Teens and Young Adults
August 24, 2006 Analyzing data from the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR) survey of adolescent religious beliefs and behaviors, Instituto Fe y Vida’s Research and Resource Center has published a report entitled “Youth Ministry and the Socio-religious Lives of White and Hispanic Catholic Teens in the U.S.,” authored by Ken Johnson-Mondragón.
The NSYR survey was conducted in 2002 and 2003 through a generous grant from the Lilly Endowment, and it offers an unprecedented look at adolescent religious beliefs and behaviors in the United States. The survey covered all 50 states and included English and Spanish-speaking teens and parents living in households with at least one telephone. With sample sizes of 498 White and 238 Hispanic Catholic teens, the responses reliably describe these populations within ±4% and ±5%, respectively (see http://www.youthandreligion.org for more information bout the NSYR).
One of the goals of the NSYR was to identify how the religious interests, concerns, and practices of American youth vary between people of different races, ages, social classes, and between boys and girls. FE Y VIDA was selected to do the comparative analysis of White and Hispanic Catholic teens, because of its reputation for publishing high quality applied research, always with a view to improving the ministry offered to Hispanic youth and young adults in the
Catholic Church.
Robert McCarty, the executive director of the National Federation for Catholic Youth Ministry, commented on the importance of this new report. “We have long known that parish youth ministry in the U.S. has not been reaching as many Hispanic and low-income adolescents as we would like. Now we have the data to show the social profile of adolescent Catholics who are becoming leaders in the Church, as well as those who are participating and those who are on the margins of Church life. With this report, Fe y Vida’s Research and Resource Center
provides timely and useful information to help youth ministers achieve the goal of drawing all Catholic young people to responsible participation in the life, mission, and work of the Catholic faith community.”
Some of the key findings included in the research report are:
- The majority of Hispanic and White Catholic adolescents live at opposite ends of the economic, social, and educational spectrum in the United States. This fact reinforces the need for a differentiated pastoral ministry, even with the Hispanic teens who speak English. In other words, it cannot be assumed that programs and approaches that work for White Catholic teens will work for Hispanic Catholic teens, and vice-versa. . Although Hispanic and White Catholic youths shared remarkably similar educational goals, the actual educational attainment of Hispanic teens and young adults falls considerably short of the education attained by their White peers. Nevertheless, young Hispanics in the U.S. are quickly becoming more educated than their parents while White young adults are maintaining the educational levels of their parents. . Young Hispanic and White Catholics reported very similar religious beliefs when it comes to certain basic Christian teachings, but the Hispanics reported more frequent experiences of personal and family religious practices, while the White teens were more likely to participate in parish and Catholic school-based religious programs and activities.
- About 73% of both White and Hispanic Catholic adolescents have received their First Communions, but much fewer have been confirmed. The Spanish-dominant Hispanic respondents, most of whom are immigrants to the U.S., were just as likely as the White respondents to be confirmed (47%). In contrast, the English-dominant Hispanic respondents, all of whom were born in the U.S., were much less likely to have been confirmed (28%). Since many dioceses offer Confirmation during the teenage years, it is most helpful to consider the responses of the older adolescents; at age 17, 63% of the White Catholic teens and 42% of their Hispanic peers had been confirmed.
- White and Hispanic adolescents participating in their parish youth groups generally scored higher on measures of educational attitudes, religious practices, family wellbeing, and avoiding at-risk behaviors than their respective non-participating peers.
- The religious commitment of parents was the most important factor contributing to religious involvement for White Catholic adolescents. In contrast, the parents of young Hispanics reported working much harder than their White peers to get their adolescent children involved in the parish youth group, yet young Hispanics participated less.
- Nationwide, about 30% of White Catholic adolescents were involved in their parish youth groups, with the exception of youths in the Northeast, where only 12% were participating. At the same time, Hispanic teens participating in parish youth and young adult groups (in either English or Spanish) ranged from almost 17% in the South to about 20% in the West; a higher percentage was actually reported in the Midwest, but without enough responses from that region to draw any statistically meaningful conclusions.
- About 20% to 25% of the Hispanic teens participating in parish youth groups likely belong to groups that meet in Spanish (pastoral juvenil). Since the pastoral juvenil approach often brings together older adolescents and young adults, it is more accurate to consider the participation of only the older adolescents. Among Hispanics ages 16 and 17, close to 50% of the active youths are participating in the pastoral juvenil model—despite the fact that pastoral juvenil is frequently not offered, even in parishes that serve large numbers of Hispanic parishioners. When it is available, as is more often the case in the West, it appears to be far more effective at reaching the older Hispanic adolescents than the traditional English-based high school youth group—even in many cases for youths whose dominant language is English.
- Middle-income Hispanics (households earning $40K to $60K per year) reported
extremely low rates of participation in their parish youth groups, while the Hispanic teens in households with an annual income of $60K or more were the most active. Among White youth group participants, teens living in households with at least $40K annual income formed the vast majority (81%), but youths from lower income households (earning $20K to $30K per year) were significantly underrepresented.
- For both White and Hispanic adolescents, attending a parish with a paid youth minister increased the likelihood of their participation by a large margin (75% for White, 150% for Hispanic teens) compared to teens in parishes with a volunteer or no youth minister . There are large numbers of “culturally squeezed” young Hispanic Catholics that are not being served in Catholic youth ministry programs because they do not fit in either the high school youth group that currently serves mostly the upper middle class teens of the dominant culture, or the pastoral juvenil approach that is serving older teens and young
adults in Spanish.
The full 24-page report includes a detailed presentation and analysis of the data, an evaluation of the current state of Catholic youth ministry practice in the U.S. based on the goals of Renewing the Vision and the National Pastoral Plan for Hispanic Ministry, and suggested priorities for increasing the outreach and effectiveness of parish youth ministry programs. It can be purchased for $5.00 per copy, plus shipping and handling, from:
Instituto Fe y Vida
1737 W. Benjamin Holt Dr.
Stockton, CA 95207
(209) 951-3483
http://www.feyvida.org
Instituto Fe y Vida is a national Catholic formation institute based in Stockton, California. It serves the fast-growing population of Hispanic youth and young adults who now comprise the largest segment of the young Catholic Church in the United States. The Instituto dates from 1988, and responds to the cultural, structural, economic, and social challenges of ministering with young Hispanic Catholics. In 2001, it established the Research and Resource Center with a mission to collaborate with other institutions in the fields of pastoral ministry, socioreligious research, and publishing to offer complete and accurate information to pastoral agents responsible for ministry with Hispanic jóvenes (single youth and young adults) for the continuous improvement of their programs and activities.
