What does the concept of flourishing mean for Latino[1] families? In what ways are Latino families currently flourishing, and how do systems support or hinder their opportunities to flourish? Those questions are at the center of the Latino Families Flourishing (LFF) initiative, a multi-year effort led by the Child Trends Hispanic Institute and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

Strong policies and decision making are driven by high-quality, reliable data. But currently, the data and systems that shape policy, programs, and public narratives too often fail to reflect the complexity of Latino families or capture how they define well-being and success. LFF is building a national data infrastructure that the United States currently lacks: nationally representative data on Latino families' strengths and diversity, and on how systems support or constrain their ability to reach their full potential. We are designing a first-of-its-kind survey focused on family flourishing, and we are designing it to go beyond a descriptive portrait of Latino families. Our survey is set to drive systems and narrative change in support of flourishing among Latino families, not just to mitigate risks or reduce negative outcomes. The goal is to gather data that informs policies, programs, and public narratives shaping Latino families’ opportunities to thrive in the United States.

Because we aim to collect data that capture family flourishing as defined by Latino families themselves, we started this effort by talking with Latino parents and primary caregivers to gather their perspectives on family flourishing. This brief summarizes what we learned across nine focus groups that sought to gather information on what flourishing means to Latino families, and what factors contribute to—or diminish—their flourishing. These findings will directly inform the design of LFF’s national survey.

Summary of Key Findings

Focus group participants described family flourishing as encompassing various interconnected dimensions, including family unity, strong values and morals, economic security, growth within and across generations, biculturalism, and an overall sense of fulfillment.

• Latino families believe that unity is at the heart of family flourishing, expressed through love, trust, and collective care. Unity can manifest in different ways—for example, by helping family members get through difficult times, caring for elders at home, and making decisions collectively.
• Flourishing families cultivate strong values and a shared moral foundation. Examples of good morals and values include the centrality of family, respect for elders and authority, having a strong work ethic, and appreciating one’s blessings.
• Economic well-being provides a foundation for security and opportunity. It includes the ability to independently meet basic needs, provide for children now and in the future, and maintain a sense of financial stability. Financial resources can support other aspects of flourishing, like family unity, by facilitating opportunities to spend time together.
• Flourishing families demonstrate growth and advancement within and across generations. Within generations, individual members show growth and achieve their goals through hard work and perseverance. Across generations, families strive to do better socioeconomically than their parents and grandparents while offering future generations an opportunity to do better than themselves.
• Biculturalism and bilingualism are powerful assets that strengthen family identity and expand opportunity. Families seek to maintain Latino cultural values and traditions and teach their children about their heritage, while also developing the skills to navigate U.S. systems and institutions.
• Family flourishing includes a deep sense of happiness, peace, and harmony in daily life. For some, a sense of fulfillment is connected to faith and religious beliefs.

Focus group participants also identified a range of factors that support or undermine their attempts to promote their families’ flourishing:

• Flourishing is shaped by multiple interconnected factors. Many of the same factors that characterize flourishing—such as education, employment, language, and economic security—can be either springboards or barriers to flourishing, depending on the context.
• Latino families draw on powerful cultural and community assets that function as engines for flourishing. For example, they encourage the passing down of practices that promote flourishing, such as shared daily family meals. Community networks offer families support through access to information and opportunities and a sense of belonging.
• Families’ agency drives flourishing, even as structural barriers limit their ability to exercise it. Families overwhelmingly claimed personal responsibility for their families’ flourishing. At the same time, they identified several ways in which systems limit their agency, including immigration enforcement and uneven access to safety net programs.

Findings

What family flourishing looks like for Latino families

We asked participants to describe what family flourishing meant to them. Their responses made clear that flourishing is not defined solely by an individual characteristic; rather, it is a combination of values, behaviors, and characteristics across various dimensions.

At the heart of family flourishing is unity, which is expressed through love, trust, and collective care.

Participants described maintaining strong family bonds and showing love and support for one another as key indicators of family flourishing. They noted that family unity manifests in different ways, from helping family members get through difficult times to making decisions collectively. Family unity also means caring for elders within the home and keeping the door open for children to stay in or return to the family home at any age—a characteristic that many felt was distinct to Latino families. One participant explained[2]:

Parents and caregivers also emphasized the importance of spending time together, maintaining open communication with their children, and building trust. Everyday activities like having meals together were considered important in creating opportunities for connection.

Flourishing families cultivate strong values and a shared moral foundation.

Participants underscored the importance of family members having good morals and values and instilling them in their children. They described examples of what good morals and values meant to them, with several mentioning the centrality of the family, respect for elders and authority figures, and good manners. One participant stated:

Participants also highlighted the value of both education and a strong work ethic. To them, the latter is reflected in taking personal responsibility, working toward goals, exercising self-discipline, and overcoming challenges. They described how families grow by overcoming obstacles and showing resilience in the face of adversity, with some referencing their families’ migration journeys and their parents’ sacrifices as an example of challenges they overcame as a family.

To some, good morals and values also included appreciating what one has and rejecting economic excess and wastefulness. Some participants saw religion as a core family value, whereas others emphasized spirituality and faith over organized religion.

Economic well-being provides a foundation for security and opportunity.

Participants underscored the importance of economic well-being as an aspect of family flourishing, describing it as the ability to consistently meet basic needs independently, provide for their children both now and in the future, and maintain a sense of financial stability. Homeownership emerged as a particularly salient marker of economic well-being, valued both in its own right and for its potential to support generational advancement.

Participants noted that hard work does not always equate to financial stability or overall economic well-being, and that the middle class is not supported by existing safety net programs. They assumed personal responsibility for securing their families’ financial well-being and generally viewed reliance on government assistance as an undesirable outcome.

While money was not seen as an end in itself, participants did note that financial resources shaped the opportunities available to their children and afforded them greater flexibility and time to spend with family. One participant stated:

Others noted that financial resources allowed them to afford experiences with their families, such as traveling or attending events, that further strengthen family bonds.

Flourishing families demonstrate growth and advancement within and across generations.

According to participants, flourishing families show progression both within and across generations. Within generations, flourishing families are ones in which individual members show growth and achieve their goals through hard work and perseverance. Participants often mentioned this framing in relation to educational attainment, including higher education and developing trade skills, that families perceived as foundational for flourishing. Participants perceived individual family members’ accomplishments as shared family successes that uplift the entire family.

Importantly, flourishing families also show progress across generations. Participants described how they had strived to do better than previous generations while aspiring to offer the next generation opportunities that they themselves had not had available. To them, this often means attaining higher levels of education and cultivating new skills and knowledge. Such investments allow family members to pursue work that is less physically demanding, offers greater opportunities for intellectual engagement, and provides better compensation. As stated by one participant:

In addition to educational and career advancement, participants also emphasized building wealth (for example, via home ownership) as a way to create long-term stability and support future generations. At the same time, participants noted that flourishing might look different across generations, depending on the opportunities that are available. One participant explained:

Biculturalism and bilingualism are powerful assets that strengthen family identity and expand opportunity.

Participants perceived biculturalism as an important marker of family flourishing. They expressed a desire to maintain Latino cultural values and traditions—like respect, obedience, and good manners—and teach their children about their heritage. Participants, and especially those in the Spanish-language focus groups, described taking pride and joy in celebrating their culture through food, music, preserving the Spanish language, and observing traditions such as Día de Reyes, Día de los Muertos, and Quinceañera.

Participants’ commitment to preserving their Latino culture was coupled with an understanding that learning English and developing the skills to navigate U.S. systems and institutions (e.g., schools and health care) were also essential to supporting their families’ success.

Family flourishing includes a deep sense of happiness, peace, and harmony in daily life.

Another aspect of flourishing described in the focus groups was a general sense of fulfillment. This was often explained as feelings of happiness, peace, and harmony within the family, reflecting an overall sense of balance and contentment in daily life. In the words of one participant:

In some cases, participants connected fulfillment to faith and religious beliefs, viewing spirituality as a source of guidance, strength, and inner peace that supports both individual and family well-being.

The core elements of Latino family flourishing are consistent, even though their expression changes over time.

Overall, focus group participants shared similar views on family flourishing, regardless of gender, income, or primary language spoken. Spanish-speaking groups more prominently discussed topics related to culture and language, but they were also discussed in the focus groups conducted in English. Seeing personal growth and success as aspects of flourishing especially resonated among women and in groups conducted in Spanish. Fulfillment was also salient in discussions among Spanish-speaking participants, as were religion and faith.

A common thread across all focus groups, and regardless of how participants specifically defined flourishing, was that families saw flourishing as being dynamic. While the key elements of flourishing are the same across generations and stages in life, the way in which they manifest may differ depending on context, life circumstances, and opportunities available. As one participant shared:

Facilitators and barriers to family flourishing

In the focus groups, parents and caregivers also provided their perspectives on what factors either promote or hinder flourishing. Participants identified a range of factors—from cultural values and community ties to economic stress, discrimination, and immigration enforcement—that either support or undermine their efforts to promote their families’ flourishing.

Flourishing is shaped by multiple interconnected factors.

Participants described how many of the same factors they used to characterize flourishing—such as education, employment, language, economic security, and health—can represent either springboards or barriers to flourishing, depending on the context and opportunities available. For example, child care can support flourishing when it is accessible by allowing parents to pursue work or education, but it can also present a barrier to flourishing when it is financially or geographically out of reach or does not meet families’ needs. Participants also noted that the challenges their families face are often interconnected. For example, language barriers limit job opportunities, while financial stress undermines parenting quality and mental health. As one participant shared:

The compounding effect is most pronounced among families with low incomes, who identified the broadest range of simultaneous barriers across housing, food, employment, health, and child care. Families struggling to make ends meet face tradeoffs that ripple across domains. For instance, parents may work long hours across multiple jobs to provide financially for their families; in turn, this limits the amount of time they spend with their children. One participant explained:

Latino families draw on powerful cultural and community assets that function as an engine for flourishing.

Participants described how their own Latino culture is an engine for flourishing and emphasized their role in keeping their Latino roots alive. For example, they discussed how Latino values are passed down across generations and are enacted through parenting practices that promote flourishing in everyday life (e.g., through daily family meals, by teaching their children to speak Spanish). As one participant shared:

The strong sense of community that characterizes the Latino culture functions as a powerful source of informal support, providing access to information, resources, and opportunities (e.g., translation support, grassroots food distribution, job referrals), and promoting a sense of unity and belonging. These assets are particularly prominent among Spanish-language participants. Two participants described this saying:

For some, faith and religion provide moral grounding and serve as a source of strength in the face of adversity. Some also noted that role models within their community provide a pathway to flourishing, while others described the presence of “gatekeepers” or a lack of representation of Latino community members as barriers to flourishing. One participant shared:

Families’ agency drives flourishing, even as structural barriers limit their ability to exercise it.

Participants overwhelmingly claimed personal responsibility for their families' flourishing. Two participants described this attitude:

At the same time, focus group participants pointed to several ways in which systems limit their agency. Of foremost importance to many was the role of immigration enforcement. Participants shared how enforcement activities create a pervasive sense of insecurity that affects not only families with unauthorized members but also legal residents and U.S.-born citizens. Many participants also described facing racism and discrimination across settings: in schools, workplaces, and policing, but also in political rhetoric. These experiences shaped their access to opportunities and hampered their sense of safety and belonging. Two participants shared their experiences:

Participants saw value in existing safety net programs, but some considered them to be out of reach, especially for those with an unauthorized family member. Still others noted that existing programs are too restrictive in their eligibility criteria and leave out working middle-class families who are above the income threshold but still struggling. One participant explained this perspective:

Conclusions

Overall, our focus group findings with Latino families indicate that many see family flourishing as multidimensional, multigenerational, and dynamic. The elements of flourishing identified by Latino parents and caregivers—family unity, shared morals and values, growth and mobility, economic well-being, biculturalism and bilingualism, and fulfillment—are interconnected and can be mutually reinforcing. For example, knowing two languages can open employment opportunities that bring financial stability, which, in turn, supports family unity. Family unity and economic mobility can bring a sense of fulfillment and having shared values and morals can foster family harmony.

Our participants described flourishing families as those characterized by multiple features that research has shown are related to positive outcomes. Strong family relationships characterized by warmth, support, and active communication are related to positive behaviors, better mental and physical health, and better-quality romantic relationships later in life. At the same time, having shared values and beliefs among family members is a foundation of strong family functioning and cohesion. Many of the values that participants identified as important are ones that have been traditionally considered characteristic of the Latino culture, for example, familismo (prioritizing family unity and loyalty), respeto (respect), and being bien educado (having good manners), and that have been linked to positive educational, mental health, and social outcomes.

Participants’ perceptions about the benefits of bilingualism are also supported by abundant research showing that bilingualism boosts cognitive function, creativity, socio-emotional development, and professional and economic outcomes. Likewise, economic stability and well-being are closely related to family dynamics. When families do not have to worry about meeting basic financial needs, they experience lower stress, more positive couple relationships, and warmer, more involved, parenting.

While parents and caregivers affirmed a personal responsibility to ensure their families can flourish, the systems that shape family life (e.g., education, health, economic, care) can either expand or suppress families’ capacity to exercise that responsibility by creating opportunities or barriers.

Notes

[1] “Latino” refers to individuals who may identify as Hispanic or Latino/a/x/e. We recognize that these terms have distinct meanings, and there is no consensus in the field on preferred terminology or the populations they represent. We prioritize the term “Latino” over “Hispanic,” as some communities have critiqued “Hispanic” for centering Spanish colonial heritage and not fully reflecting the diversity of cultural identities within Latin America. In this document, we use “Latino” to refer to individuals of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Salvadoran, Cuban, Dominican, Guatemalan, and other Central or South American, or Spanish culture or origin. Latino people can be of any race.

[2] Quotes are provided in the language they were shared.