Half of America’s under-fives are now non-white children from ethnic and racial minority groups, according to new US census data.
More children born to ethnic minorities than to white families in US
The statistics, a dramatic illustration of the America’s dramatically changing demographic face, are driving policies of the country’s politicians and fuelling court decisions about the need for affirmative action programmes.
The new figures, collected in 2012, come a year after the US census bureau disclosed that whites were a minority among babies for the first time.
Higher birth rates among Hispanics, the largest ethnic minority, and immigration are the joint forces behind the new figures for the country’s children.
Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director, projected that non-whites will become a majority in the under-five age group by next year at the latest. The proportion is currently 49.9 per cent.
Minorities are expected to make up more than 50 per cent of all children under 18 within five years, according to the same projections.
At the same time, the existing white adult population is also falling as the post-war baby boom generation begins to die in what is known as “natural decrease”. For the first time in more than 100 years, the number of deaths now exceeds births among white Americans.
In overall terms, the country’s non-white population now stands at 116 million, or 37 per cent of the population. Hispanics are 17 per cent of Americans; blacks 12.3 per cent; Asians 5 per cent; and multiracial Americans are 2.4 per cent.
Both Democrats and Republicans are seeking to woo the burgeoning minority groups. Democrat support for more liberal policies on undocumented immigrants helped return President Barack Obama to the White House in last year’s election.
As the country’s ethnic and racial diversity increases, so has the gap between rich and poor, which is now measured at its largest since 1970 That has prompted legal and political repercussions. The Supreme Court will this month rule whether civil rights programmes, most notably pro-minority university admissions schemes, should be adjusted to focus more on income rather than race and ethnicity.
More than one in five under-fives age group live in poverty. That proportion rises to 41 per cent among young black children, stands at 32 per cent for Hispanic toddlers, but is just 13 per cent for whites and 11 per cent for Asians.
More children born to ethnic minorities than to white families in US
The statistics, a dramatic illustration of the America’s dramatically changing demographic face, are driving policies of the country’s politicians and fuelling court decisions about the need for affirmative action programmes.
The new figures, collected in 2012, come a year after the US census bureau disclosed that whites were a minority among babies for the first time.
Higher birth rates among Hispanics, the largest ethnic minority, and immigration are the joint forces behind the new figures for the country’s children.
Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director, projected that non-whites will become a majority in the under-five age group by next year at the latest. The proportion is currently 49.9 per cent.
Minorities are expected to make up more than 50 per cent of all children under 18 within five years, according to the same projections.
At the same time, the existing white adult population is also falling as the post-war baby boom generation begins to die in what is known as “natural decrease”. For the first time in more than 100 years, the number of deaths now exceeds births among white Americans.
In overall terms, the country’s non-white population now stands at 116 million, or 37 per cent of the population. Hispanics are 17 per cent of Americans; blacks 12.3 per cent; Asians 5 per cent; and multiracial Americans are 2.4 per cent.
Both Democrats and Republicans are seeking to woo the burgeoning minority groups. Democrat support for more liberal policies on undocumented immigrants helped return President Barack Obama to the White House in last year’s election.
As the country’s ethnic and racial diversity increases, so has the gap between rich and poor, which is now measured at its largest since 1970 That has prompted legal and political repercussions. The Supreme Court will this month rule whether civil rights programmes, most notably pro-minority university admissions schemes, should be adjusted to focus more on income rather than race and ethnicity.
More than one in five under-fives age group live in poverty. That proportion rises to 41 per cent among young black children, stands at 32 per cent for Hispanic toddlers, but is just 13 per cent for whites and 11 per cent for Asians.