Oldal 96 [96]
CHAPTER 5 BACKGROUND INFORMATION
aged over 25 have BA or higher gualifications, slightly lower than the US
average, 24.496 (US Census Bureau State and County Ouick Facts 2008), while
in the Hungarian-American community, it is 64%. Therefore, taking into
consideration the strikingly high qualifications of this group of Hungarian¬
Americans, which is an important measure of the socio-economic status
in the US, this group is a good example of a highly qualified, educationally
prestigious immigrant community.
It is also important to note that in comparison with the average in the state
of North Carolina as well as with the US average, this community seems to
be an aging one. 20% of the Hungarian-American community is aged over 61,
while only 12.4% of North Carolinians are, and the corresponding national
figure in the US is 12.8%. The youngest segment of the Hungarian-American
community is the smallest one, the subjects aged between 9 and 20 make up
only 13% of the sample, while in North Carolina, the proportion of those aged
under 18 is 24.3% as high as the US national average. The most numerous
segment of the Hungarian-American sample is made up by those aged between
21 and 40, 39%, followed by the age group of 41-60, 28%.
Table 2: Ages
Responses 61+ 41 - 60 21-40 8-20
N=78 (11
aA 13 (20%) 19 (28%) 26 (39%) 9 (13%)
The aging structure of the community is also reflected by the proportion of
first- and second-generation members. 78% of the subjects are first-generation
Hungarian-Americans, while 22% belong to the second generation. This
figure also shows that the vast majority of this community is made up by
first-generation members. As the members of this community regularly
attend the Hungarian-American events, because, for various reasons, they
are interested in cherishing Hungarian traditions, it can be concluded that
this interest among second-generation members considerably declines. Also,
the majority of the second-generation members are young children or young
adults, and they attend the Hungarian-American events mostly because their
parents, the first-generation members, bring them with them. There are only
few second-generation Hungarian-Americans who continue to attend the
Hungarian-American community’s events even if their parents do not. Also,
there is a striking difference between the ages of first- and second-generation
subjects. The majority of second-generation subjects (47%) are younger than
20 years, while the majority of first-generation subjects (40%) are aged between
21-40, which well reflects the parent-child relationship between first- and
second-generation members.
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