Latino Income Gap Widened in ‘80s : Economy: A new report says the growing disparity between America’s rich and poor has intensified earnings differences between Latinos and others.

WASHINGTON — The difference between the incomes of Latinos and non-Latinos grew in the 1980s, intensified by the wider gap between wealthy and other Americans, a report issued today said.

Latinos have traditionally earned less than non-Latinos. But the study by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the gap swelled during the last decade principally because Latino income stagnated.

Latinos are nearly three times as likely to be among the poorest fifth of American households than among the wealthiest fifth, the report said.

The findings follow recent reports that Latinos are the most undereducated segment of the U.S. population and the fastest growing. They are expected to be the largest minority community within 10 years.

The report’s findings also came two weeks after the center reported a post-World War II high in the earnings gap between wealthy and other Americans. The top 20% of households will receive as much after-tax income this year as the other 80% combined, the center said last month.

“When the gaps between rich and poor grow, Latinos tend to suffer the same fates as poor and moderate-income Americans,” said Scott Barancik, author of the new report.

Both reports use 1979-88 data, the latest available, from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Congressional Budget Office. The income figures are adjusted for inflation.

The new study found that 28% of Latinos had incomes placing them in the poorest fifth of households in 1987. About 11% of Latino households had incomes that put them in the wealthiest fifth that year.

In 1979, the income of the typical Latino family was 71% of the average non-Latino family. That figure was 66% by 1988, the latest year to draw a comparison.

Immigrants tend to have a lower income when they first arrive in the country, Barancik said. But he noted that there is also a substantial gap between the average incomes of Latinos born in the United States and non-Latinos.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonprofit research organization, financed by foundations, that studies government spending, programs and policies affecting low- and moderate-income Americans.