Book excerpt: This book takes as its focus America in the 1980s which, at the time, was undergoing massive demographic and economic changes. The bulk of the book deals with Latino demographic, social, and economic characteristics: labor force participation, income, education, health, and political participation. It advocates that, in order to improve their situation, Latinos must understand their position as a group and as a community. The authors offer grounded speculation about the future of society, given two very important trends occurring simultaneously: the aging of the well-educated, Anglo Baby Boomer generation; and the growth of the much younger, less-educated Latino population.