Fact Sheets

Physical Health

Asian Americans face higher rates of:

  • Stomach Cancer

  • Tuberculosis

  • Hepatitis B

Asian Americans are less likely to have a primary care physician (PCP). 19.4% of Asian Americans do not have a PCP while 12.9% of the white population does not have a PCP.

Barriers including language and cultural differences, lack of health insurance, lack of knowledge on screenings needed for Asian populations from both doctors and patients, or stigma result in health complications for preventable diseases and conditions or infrequent doctor visits.

  • Liver disease including liver cancer and cirrhosis

  • Smoking

  • HIV/AIDS

Mental Health

Asian Americans are 3x less likely to seek professional mental health help than the general population, with only 8.6% seeking help in their lifetimes, compared to 18% of the general population

  • Suicide is the 8th leading cause for Asian Americans as compared to the 11th for the general US population.

  • U.S. born Asian American women report higher rates of suicidal ideation (15.9%) than the general population (13.9%).

    A study surveying teenage and young adult Asian Americans found the most frequently reported stressors include: 

  • Cultural and language barriers

  • Lack of health insurance

  • Not viewing Mental Health as Medical Health

  • Lack of community integration

  • Stigma

  • Bi-cultural stress

  • Racial discrimination

  • The "Model Minority" Myth

  • Overemphasized academic and career success

  • Strict family values

Housing Ownership

Asian Americans have a 59% home ownership, a lower rate than the overall U.S. public. Multidimensional Deprivation is an index method that provides a more expansive-view of hardship beyond income level, taking into account other hardships people face that negatively affect quality of life, other than solely focusing on income deprivation to find inequality. For Asian Americans facing Multidimensional Deprivation, housing quality is the largest contributor, accounting for 24.6% of deprivation.

Population Demographics

Percentage 65 and older: 32.92%

Percentage 65 and older: 26.54%

  • While Asian Americans currently have a younger population as of 2019, the unbalanced age distribution suggests a more elderly-based proportion distribution, resulting in a top-heavy future Asian American population. 

  • 9 out of 10 Asian Seniors are foreign-born, and five times more likely than native-born to speak a foreign language

  • At 18%, Asian seniors are one of the racial groups most highly involved in the workforce past retirement age

  • Unlike every other racial or ethnic group, Asian seniors are more likely to be in poverty than the general Asian (their respective) population

Model Minority Myth

The “model minority myth” is the common belief of a general “perceived collective success” of Asian Americans in the US as a monolith. The myth, while seemingly positive, serves to obscure and mystify the real discrimination and disparities within the diverse Asian American communities in the US. It is contradicted by statistics and the lived experiences of many Asian Americans.

The myth obscures how many Asian American subgroups are worse off than the general American: Nepalese, Laotian, Burmese, Mongolian, and Bhutanese Americans all have lower median incomes than the national average. Furthermore, in 38 states and Puerto Rico, Asian American households reported lower median incomes than the U.S. median. Asian Americans are also underrepresented in positions of political leadership by a differential of -85% and are disproportionately underrepresented in institutional leadership roles. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Asian Americans have reported the highest rate of fear of hate crimes or threats at 32%, higher than any other racial group in the US. The myth perpetuates racism by creating racial animosity and resentment and is used to admonish other racial groups for not being “successful in spite of being a minority”.