Critical Generation:
Improving the Well Being of Children of Immigrants in Arkansas
Any discussion of Arkansas’s future is incomplete without understanding the challenges faced by children in immigrant families. They account for the majority of growth in Arkansas’ child population in the last decade. This new population, mostly Hispanic and almost all U.S. citizens, presents new opportunities in our effort to ensure that all children in Arkansas reach their full potential.
Our state’s economic future depends on our success at meeting this challenge. The number of children with foreign-born parents quadrupled over the last two decades. In comparison, the growth rate for children of native born parents was about 15 percent. Children of immigrants are key to our state’s long-term economic outlook, and their opportunity to learn and flourish is central to our state’s interest.