Washington, DC:  In a report entitled "Between Two Worlds: How Young Latinos Come of Age in America" released on December 11,  2010, a Pew Hispanic Center survey of 2,012 U.S. Latinos ages 16 to 25 found that respondents were generally optimistic about their futures and valued education, hard work, and career success.  For a downloadable copy of the report, click here.

Yet the report also presents data showing that young Latinos are statistically more likely than other youths to drop out of school, become teen parents, and live in poverty. According to survey data, 89 percent of Latinos ages 16 to 25 say it is important to get a college education, compared with 82 percent of all U.S. youths in the same age range. However, 48 percent Latinos ages 18 to 25 say they expect to receive a college degree, compared with 60 percent of their non-Latino U.S. peers. The report is part of Pew Research Center's year-long series on the Millennial Generation, defined as everyone born between 1981 and 2000.