Immigration and language of Ukrainians in the United States
by Dr. Oleh Wolowyna
Census data are the only reliable source of information on Ukrainians in the United States. The ancestry question allows us to estimate the number of persons who declared Ukrainian as their ancestry, and the question on language use at home allows us to calculate the percent who speak Ukrainian.
Given the relatively small size of the group, 0.3 percent of the total U.S. population in 2000, the Bureau of the Census provides only a few tabulations with data on Ukrainians. A sample of 5 percent of all the individual census records has been made available recently, and this allows us to answer the important question of what percent of all persons of Ukrainian ancestry speak Ukrainian at home, as well as many other questions.
The surprising, if not shocking, answer is that 12.7 percent of all persons who declared Ukrainian as their first or second ancestry (one can record one or two ancestries in the census), speak Ukrainian while 13.4 percent speak Russian. In other words, in the year 2000, among all Ukrainians in the United States the percent speaking Russian was higher than the percent speaking Ukrainian. In this article we will explain how and why this happened, and discuss some of the implications of this fact.
In order to understand this surprising finding, we need to look at the size and language composition of the different migration waves of Ukrainians to the United States. In Table 1 we present percentages of Ukrainian and Russian speakers for the whole group, the U.S.-born and the different migration waves, as reported in the 2000 and 1990 censuses. We see that the percent of Ukrainian speakers for the whole group (total column) increased slightly from 12.4 percent in 1990 to 12.7 percent in 2000, while the percent of Russian speakers increased from 2.2 percent in 1990 to 13.4 percent in 2000. This large increase in the percent of Russian speakers indicates that something unusual has happened between 1990 and 2000.
For the U.S.-born, the percent of Ukrainian speakers decreased from 6.6 percent in 1990 to 4.6 percent in 2000, while the percent of Russian speakers increased from 0.3 percent in 1990 to 0.7 percent in 2000. The percentages of Ukrainian and Russian speakers in the different migration waves provide further clues about this surprising result.
In 2000, more than half of persons who came to the U.S. before 1950 spoke Ukrainian, while only 4 percent spoke Russian. For the next migration period, 1950-1986, we see the beginnings of a trend; the percentage of Ukrainian speakers drops to 32 percent, while the percent of Russian speakers jumps to almost 26 percent.
Among the more recent migrants the percent of Russian speakers is much higher than the percent of Ukrainian speakers. For 1987-1990 the percent of Russian speakers is about three times the percent of Ukrainian speakers, while for the period 1991-2000 Russian speakers outnumber Ukrainian speakers by a factor of 1.6.
This trend was already captured in the 1990 census. It was not detected before, because the possibility of having a larger proportion of Russian than Ukrainian speakers among all persons of Ukrainian ancestry in the United States was frankly impossible to imagine at that time, and we did not look for it. The percentages of Ukrainian and Russian speakers for the before 1950 migrant wave observed in 1990 were similar to the percentages observed in 2000. For the 1950-1986 immigrants, the decline in Ukrainian speakers and the increase in Russian speakers are less pronounced than in 2000, but the beginning of a similar pattern is there. The 1987-1990 immigrants show a higher percentage of Russian speakers than of Ukrainian speakers.
The percentages presented in Table 1 are complemented by their respective absolute numbers in Table 2. In the total column we see that, although the number of Ukrainian speakers increased from 88,000 in 1990 to 114,000 in 2000, the number of Russian speakers increased from 15,000 to 120,000 respectively. That is, among all persons of Ukrainian ancestry in the United States in the year 2000, the number of Russian speakers was slightly higher than the number of Ukrainian.
In 2000 among all pre-1950 immigrants about 9,000 speak Ukrainian and about 700 speak Russian. For the 1950-1986 migrants we have 20,000 speaking Ukrainian and 16,000 speaking Russian. Among immigrants arriving after 1986, the number of Russian speakers is much larger than the number of Ukrainian speakers. If we add the number of all Ukrainian speakers among the U.S.-born and immigrants before 1987, we have 59,000, while the number of Ukrainian speakers contributed by the fourth wave (1987-2000) is 55,000.
Thus, the recent immigrants contributed almost as many Ukrainian speakers as those among the U.S.-born and the previous immigration waves. On the other hand, the recent immigrants contributed 99,000 Russian speakers, compared to the 21,000 Russian speakers among U.S.-born and immigrants before 1987.
Significant differences are observed between the respective figures for 1990 and 2000. For the U.S.-born, the decrease among Ukrainian speakers (from 40,000 in 1990 to 30,000 in 2000) is probably mainly due to mortality, as a large proportion of Ukrainian speakers are elderly. One possible factor in the increase in Russian speakers among the U.S.-born (from 2,000 in 1990 to 4,600 in 2000) are the children of the large contingent of Russian speakers between 1986 and 2000 who were born in the United States. The same factor is likely at play for the immigrants for the pre-1950 and 1950-1986 immigrants.
The large differences between 1990 and 2000 in the numbers of Ukrainian and Russian speakers for the 1987-1990 immigrants are more puzzling. One hypothesis is that many of the Ukrainians recorded in the 2000 census were illegal migrants at the time of the 1990 census, and that by 2000 they had permanent status and/or felt more comfortable responding to the census.
The total number of persons of Ukrainian ancestry was 893,055 in 2000. The number of all immigrants was 253,400, and 56 percent of them arrived between 1991 and 2000. If we add the 1987-1990 immigrants (12.5 percent of all immigrants), we have a total of 68.5 percent of all immigrants belonging to the Fourth Wave. In absolute numbers there were 142,000 immigrants between 1991-2000, and 31,600 arrived between 1987 and 1990. This massive migration is bound to have significant effects on the Ukrainian group in the United States, and the larger proportion of Russian than Ukrainian speakers is just one of these effects.
These numbers are consistent with immigration statistics from Ukraine's Derzhkomstat (State Committee on Statistics) and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). According to Derzhkomstat, between 1992 and 2000 about 111,000 migrated from Ukraine to the U.S. and, according to INS statistics, during the same period the number of immigrants born in Ukraine admitted to the United States was about 146,000. If we add the number of immigrants for the years 1990 and 1991, and consider the fact that some of the immigrants recorded by the census came from other countries than Ukraine (see Table 3 below), the census figures are consistent with both the Ukrainian and U.S. immigration statistics.
It is important to note that, according to Derzhkomstat statistics and the Jewish Demographic Yearbooks published in the United States, about 40 percent of all migrants from Ukraine during 1992-2000 were Jewish. Also a very high proportion of migrants from Ukraine during 1987-1991 were Jewish. Thus, it is safe to assume that, of the 173,600 1987-2000 immigrants registered by the census, close to half are Jewish. Although they declared Ukrainian as their ancestry, it is highly unlikely that they are active in the Ukrainian community in the United States or may become active in the future.
Thus, in terms of potential for the Ukrainian community, the number of Fourth Wave immigrants is closer to 90,000. However, this still is more than the 85,000 immigrants estimated for the post World War II wave. It is also safe to assume that most Ukrainians who did not have a legal migrant status in the United States did not fill out the census form. Thus, if we add the illegal migrants to the estimated 90,000 ethnic Ukrainian immigrants registered by the census, we estimate that the total number of Fourth Wave ethnic Ukrainians in the U.S. is between 120,000 and 150,000.
As mentioned above, the 2000 census 5 percent Public Use Microdata Sample Tape allows us to study in depth the characteristics of the whole group, as well as of the different migration waves. The sample has complete census information on close to 43,000 persons of Ukrainian ancestry. It allows us to make cross-tabulations with any set of variables in the census form, select any subpopulation of the group, and thus produce a very large number of tabulations. Here we will analyze only one characteristic - country of birth - of the different migration waves, in order to get a better understanding of the Fourth Wave migrants. Table 3 presents the main countries of birth of immigrants by year of immigration for the Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking subpopulations.
Ukraine, Russia, Poland, the USSR, Germany and Canada capture about 95 percent of the countries of birth of all immigrants. Among Ukrainian speakers, 74 percent of the pre 1950 immigrants were born in Ukraine, 10 percent in Germany, 8 percent in Poland and 4 percent in Canada. It is interesting to observe that in this cohort of immigrants nobody declared Russia or the USSR as their country of birth, while among Russian speakers 14 percent said they were born in Russia and 9 percent declared the USSR as their country of birth.
Among the 1950-1986 Ukrainian speaking immigrants, the percent born in Ukraine declined to 58 percent, due to somewhat higher percentages born in Poland, Germany and Canada. Among Russian-speaking immigrants during the same period, 78 percent were born in Ukraine, 10 percent in Russia and 6 percent in the USSR.
The great majority of Fourth Wave immigrants were born in Ukraine. Among Ukrainian speakers this percentage was 88 percent for the 1987-1990 period and increased to 92 percent for the 1991-2000 period; the respective percentages for Russian speakers were 85 percent and 87 percent. The main difference between the Ukrainian and Russian speaking immigrants during 1987-2000 was that higher percentages of Russian than Ukrainian speakers were born in Russia and the USSR.
The surprising finding that there are more Russian than Ukrainian speakers among all persons of Ukrainian ancestry in the United States is due two factors: a) a large number of migrants to the United States during the last 13 years who consider themselves of Ukrainian ancestry; b) a high percentage of these migrants speak Russian at home. (The census language question reads "does this person speak a language other than English at home?"). We know that most of these migrants do speak Ukrainian, but many of them speak Russian at home and this is what the census measures. Thus Ukraine has been exporting to the United States part of its language problem, among many other things.
This result is likely to shock many members of our community and, hopefully, trigger an active debate. Some will consider this a tragedy, while others will accept this fact as part of our reality. This may be considered one of the negative consequence of the Fourth Wave migration, or a challenge to the community. The Fourth Wave migration has also had some positive effects that need to be considered. For example, if there were no new immigrants after 1986, the number of Ukrainian speakers would have dropped to 59,000 by the year 2000.
The Fourth Wave added to the community 55,000 persons who speak Ukrainian at home, and this is an underestimate of all Ukrainian speakers, as we know that many of the persons who speak Russian at home speak perfect Ukrainian. Using the 5 percent sample we can determine the age-sex composition of both Ukrainian and Russian speakers, where they live, their marital status and family composition, level of education, income and occupation, as well as a number of housing characteristics.
Census data provide a unique opportunity to analyze in depth the characteristics of the Fourth Wave migrants and their potential impact on the Ukrainian community in the United States. The analysis of these data would require some resources. It is up to our community leaders to decide if they want to continue their work on the basis of perceptions, prejudices and misconceptions, or join the 21st century and use objective data as the basis for planning and decision making.
Years of Immigration (percent) | ||||||
| Year/Language | Total | U.S. Born | < 1950 | 1950-86 | 1987-90 | 1991-00 |
| 2000: | ||||||
Ukrainian |
12.7 | 4.6 | 52.2 | 32.0 | 23.8 | 33.3 |
Russian |
13.4 | 0.7 | 4.0 | 25.8 | 66.2 | 55.0 |
| 1990: | ||||||
Ukrainian |
12.4 | 6.6 | 57.8 | 42.9 | 35.0 | |
Russian |
2.2 | 0.3 | 2.8 | 12.9 | 39.3 | |
| Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 5% Public Use Microdata Sample Tape | ||||||
Years of Immigration | ||||||
| Year/Language | Total | U.S. Born | < 1950 | 1950-86 | 1987-90 | 1991-00 |
| 2000: | ||||||
Ukrainian |
113,691 | 29,736 | 9,098 | 20,016 | 7,525 | 47,316 |
Russian |
120,463 | 4,625 | 692 | 16,143 | 20,909 | 78,094 |
| 1990: | ||||||
Ukrainian |
87,788 | 40,272 | 16,889 | 26,543 | 4,084 | |
Russian |
15,382 | 2,035 | 808 | 7,952 | 4,587 | |
| Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 5% Public Use Microdata Sample Tape | ||||||
| Language Spoken at Home/Country of Birth |
Years of Immigration (percentages) | |||
< 1950 |
1950-86 |
1987-90 |
1991-200 | |
| Ukrainian: | ||||
Ukraine |
74.0 | 57.8 | 88.3 | 92.3 |
Russia |
0.0 | 0.7 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
Poland |
7.6 | 9.7 | 1.6 | 0.7 |
USSR |
0.0 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.9 |
Germany |
9.9 | 14.7 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
Canada |
4.3 | 5.3 | 0.3 | 1.1 |
| Russian: | ||||
Ukraine |
68.5 | 78.7 | 85.0 | 86.7 |
Russia |
13.7 | 10.4 | 7.0 | 5.8 |
Poland |
0.0 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
USSR |
8.7 | 6.4 | 4.6 | 2.3 |
Germany |
3.5 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
Canada |
2.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Tot. No. of Immigrants | 17,423 | 62,484 | 31,592 | 141,934 |
| Source: U.S. Bureau of the Census, 5% Public Use Microdata Sample Tape | ||||
Dr. Oleh Wolowyna is owner and president of the counsulting firm Informed Decisions, Inc., in Chapel Hill, N.C. He has worked as a consultant in the international development field (population and health). He has also done extensive demographic and sociological analysis of Ukrainians in the United States and Canada, as well as demographic analysis of the situation in Ukraine.
Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, October 12, 2003, No. 41, Vol. LXXI
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