CENSUS ANALYSIS PORTRAYS LOWER LEVELS OF ENGLISH PROFICIENCY FOR NEW YORK CITY'S TAIWANESE AMERICANS THAN FOR CITY'S GENERAL POPULATION

Asian American Federation's Profile Shows Taiwanese Are Better Off Economically Than The General Population

NEW YORK – Taiwanese Americans in New York City surpassed city residents as a whole across many socioeconomic measures but lagged behind the city's overall population in 2000 in terms of English proficiency, according to a census-based profile released today by the Asian American Federation of New York, a nonprofit leadership organization.

The population portrait details how higher incomes, education levels and home ownership rates, set Taiwanese New Yorkers apart from New York City's general population. In addition, the profile charts household size and recent declines for the city's Taiwanese population.

Based on 2000 and 1990 census results, including recently released data, the demographic portrait is the final one of a series of ethnic population profiles prepared by the Federation's federally-designated Census Information Center (CIC).

Profile facts include the following (referring to 2000 census data and New York City residents if not specified):

• From 1990 to 2000, the city's Taiwanese population declined from 6,011 to 5,488, or by 9 percent - compared with growth rates of 9 percent for the city overall and 71 percent for the city's total Asian population.
• Nearly half of Taiwanese residents (49 percent) spoke limited English - compared with 24 percent of all residents. Among senior citizens, 87 percent of Taiwanese had limited English ability - exceeding 27 percent of all elderly New Yorkers.
• Working-age adults (age 18 to 64) were represented disproportionately in the Taiwanese population, comprising 81 percent of the group, compared with 64 percent of all city residents.
• More than 8 out of 10 (81 percent) of Taiwanese in the city were foreign-born, and 44 percent of those immigrants had come to the United States since 1980. More than half (56 percent) of the city's Taiwanese immigrants were naturalized U.S. citizens - surpassing 45 percent of all immigrant New Yorkers.
• Taiwanese per capita income was $29,434 - compared with $22,402 city-wide.
• Sixteen percent of Taiwanese children in the city lived in poverty - substantially lower than the 30 percent of all city children.
• About 10 percent of New York City's Taiwanese adults had not graduated from high school - far lower than 28 percent of all adults.
• In 2000, Queens had the most Taiwanese New Yorkers, with 71 percent of this population, followed by Manhattan, with 19 percent. Remaining Taiwanese lived in Brooklyn (6 percent), Staten Island (2 percent), or the Bronx (1 percent).