Official Site of The State of New Jersey
Limited English Speaking Households
Summary Indicator Report Data View Options
Limited English Speaking Households by County, New Jersey, 2023
Why Is This Important?
Having limited English proficiency can be a barrier to accessing health care services and understanding health information. Institutional barriers such as a lack of well-trained interpreters and culturally competent health care providers adversely affect the health of individuals with limited English proficiency. Quality of care is lowered when patients do not understand their health care providers, when patients and providers do not speak the same language, and when a provider's approach is not linguistically competent. Trained interpreters and bilingual health care providers improve patient satisfaction, quality of care, and health outcomes for individuals with limited English proficiency.[https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/language-and-literacy ^1^]
Definition
A "limited English speaking household" is one in which no member 14 years old and over (1) speaks only English or (2) speaks a non-English language and speaks English "very well." In other words, all members 14 years old and over have at least some difficulty with English.
Data Source
American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau(https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs/)
How the Measure is Calculated
| Numerator: | Number of limited English-speaking households |
| Denominator: | Number of households |
How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
Compared to the U.S. as a whole, New Jersey has a higher proportion of limited English-speaking households.
Available Services
[https://libguides.njstatelib.org/NJResourcesforEnglishLanguageLearners/NJandUSGovernmentResources New Jersey Resources for English Language Learners]
More Resources
[https://wwwn.cdc.gov/pubs/other-languages?Sort=Lang%3A%3Aasc CDC Resources in Languages Other than English] U.S. Census Bureau, [https://data.census.gov/ data.census.gov] U.S. Census Bureau, [https://data.census.gov/profile?g=040XX00US34 New Jersey Profile]
Health Program Information
NJDOH, [https://www.nj.gov/health/ommh/ Office of Minority and Multicultural Health]
Footnote References
1. [https://health.gov/healthypeople/priority-areas/social-determinants-health/literature-summaries/language-and-literacy Language and Literacy], Healthy People 2030.