By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Preliminary census estimates are showing that for the first time ever, the majority of babies born in the U.S. are minorities, a statistic that foreshadows a changing U.S. demographic from older, white Americans to a young generation that is predominantly comprised of minorities.
The Associated Press (AP) is reporting that the new numbers provide the clearest confirmation yet of a changing social order, one in which racial and ethnic minorities will become the U.S. majority by midcentury.
“We’re moving toward an acknowledgment that we’re living in a different world than the 1950s, where married or two-parent heterosexual couples are now no longer the norm for a lot of kids, especially kids of color,” said Laura Speer, coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
“It’s clear the younger generation is very demographically different from the elderly, something to keep in mind as politics plays out on how programs for the elderly get supported,” she said. “It’s critical that children are able to grow to compete internationally and keep state economies rolling.”
Preliminary numbers show that non-Hispanic whites make up just under half of all children 3 years old. Twenty years ago, more than 60 percent of children in that age group were white.
As of today, 12 states and the District of Columbia now have white populations below 50 percent among children under age five – Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Florida, Maryland, Georgia, New Jersey, New York and Mississippi. That’s up from six states and the District of Columbia in 2000.
By contrast, whites make up the vast majority of older Americans – 80 percent of seniors 65 and older and roughly 73 percent of people ages 45-64.
“The recent emergence of this cultural generation gap in states with fast growth of young Hispanics has spurred heated discussions of immigration and the use of government services,” said William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution. “But the new census, which will show a minority majority of our youngest Americans, makes plain that our future labor force is absolutely dependent on our ability to integrate and educate a new diverse child population.”
Other demographics point to declining U.S. marriage rates, such as the fact that the share of African-American households headed by women – made up of mostly single mothers – now exceeds African-American households with married couples. It was the first time the number of female-headed households surpassed those of married couples among any race group.
Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, emphasized the economic impact of the decline of traditional families, noting that single-parent families are often the most dependent on government assistance.
“The decline of the traditional family will have to correct itself if we are to continue as a society,” Perkins told the AP, citing a responsibility of individuals and churches. “We don’t need another dose of big government, but a new Hippocratic oath of ‘do no harm’ that doesn’t interfere with family formation or seek to redefine family.”
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