Nuno Veiga / Lusa
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, embraced by a Portuguese woman during celebrations of the Day of Portugal, Camões and Portuguese Communities in Boston, USA (2018)
A new study reveals that being Portuguese-American and mastering the Portuguese language is associated with higher income in the USA.
According to , between 2018 and 2022, only 13.7% of descendants of Portuguese born in the USA over the age of five spoke Portuguese.
Despite everything, there are few but good ones. The study An American Dream in Portuguese: Second Generation and Beyondfrom the Luso-American Development Foundation (FLAD) states that this niche – especially young people – earns more than Americans who have the same profile.
In detail, Portuguese speakers earn, on average, 19.5% more than residents who have similar profiles.
E even those of Portuguese descent who do not speak Portuguese seem to have an advantage: an additional 11.8% is gained when there is a connection to Portugal.
As Público states, among those without higher education, Portuguese origin and use of the language translate into better salaries.
However, among graduates, language has less impact – the type of work becomes more important.
Among graduates, Portuguese speakers are less present in education and more concentrated in health, social support and construction.
“The ‘American dream in Portuguese’ is a story of transformation (…) The Portuguese-American experience, far from being static, continues to evolve in response to internal dynamics and external opportunities — a process that reflects the core of what it means to be successful in a multicultural America”, say the study’s authors.
