New research from the Pew Center released today finds that Asian-Americans are richer, have more college degrees, and value parenting and marriage more than adults in this country as a whole. Perhaps as a result, they're more likely to raise kids in two-parent households.
Pew's findings are a result of surveys conducted by phone from January 3 to March 27, 2012 of 3,511 Asian Americans in English and seven other Asian languages. Statistical highlights:
• Eighty-two percent of Asian Americans are overall satisfied with their lives, while 75 percent of the general public is.
• Among Asian Americans, 51 percent said they were satisfied with their personal finances, versus 35 percent of the general public.
• Asian Americans are more likely to have college degrees: 49 percent do, while 28 percent of adults do.
• They also make more: Asian American households have a median household income of $66,000. The median for U.S. adults as a whole is $49,800.
• The report cites media favorite Priscilla Chan, Mark Zuckerberg's new wife, as an example of the 37 percent of "recent Asian American brides" who married non-Asian grooms.
• Asians recently surpassed Hispanics as the largest immigrant group in the U.S. — and they're packing more degrees than any immigrant group. Pew found that 61 percent of Asian adults aged 25 to 61 who came to American in recent years at least have a bachelor's degree, adding, "This is double the share among recent non-Asian arrivals, and almost surely makes the recent Asian arrivals the most highly educated cohort of immigrants in U.S. history."
• A successful marriage is one of the most important things in life for 54 percent of Asian Americans, while the same is true for only 34 percent of adult Americans. (See also: this.)
• Asian Americans place higher value on parenting than U.S. adults: 67 percent of those surveyed said being a good parent is one of the most important things in life, while just 50 percent of U.S. adults agreed.
• Fifty-nine percent of Asian Americans are married; 51 percent of U.S. adults are.
• Asian American children are more likely to be raised in a household with two parents — 80 percent are versus 63 percent of American children generally.
• Almost half of Asian Americans surveyed think parents of their national origin put too much pressure on their kids to succeed in school (just 9 percent of U.S. adults said the same).
Read the full report here.