Saturday, May 19, 2012
(photo: The Sun)
In another sign of the coming end of the United States’ Caucasian orientation, the majority of babies born last year were minorities—a first in American history.
Just over half (50.4%) of the U.S. population younger than age 1 were minorities as of July 1, 2011, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Non-Hispanic whites accounted for 49.6% of all births during the 12-month period in question.
Demographers say the dominance of minority births has been expected for some time, as the U.S. grows increasingly multiethnic.
“This is an important tipping point,” William H. Frey, the senior demographer at the Brookings Institution, told The New York Times.
For the time being, whites will remain a majority of the population, currently 63.4%. But this percentage is expected to decline over the next three decades, with whites ceasing to be in the majority by 2042.
The District of Columbia and four states—California, Hawaii, New Mexico and Texas—have minority population majorities.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
To Learn More:
Most Children Younger Than Age 1 are Minorities, Census Bureau Reports (U.S. Census Bureau)
Whites Account for Under Half of Births in U.S. (by Sabrina Tavernise, New York Times)
Census: Minority Babies Are Now Majority In United States (by Carol Morello and Ted Mellnik, Washington Post)
Comments