As the topic of illegal immigration continues to be an unexpected issue in the 2010 campaign season, the reality of America's changing demographics were displayed yesterday with the U.S. Census Bureau reporting that whites of European ancestry are on the verge of becoming a minority among new-born children in the U.S.
As the Wall Street Journal reports this morning, there are a number of factors that have led to this development:
The median age of the white population is older than that of nonwhites, and thus a larger share of minority women are in prime child-bearing years. In addition, white women are having fewer children than nonwhites, while the growth in mixed marriages has led to more multiracial births.
The recession has slowed the transformation by reducing immigration. It also has made people of all races less willing to start families. But births among nonwhites slowed less than those among whites between July 2008 and July 2009. Among the Hispanic population, there were roughly nine births for every one death, compared with a roughly one-to-one ratio for whites.
And the story contends that illegal immigration has little to do with these developments: Although Latinos consist of 55% of the total population increase, two-thirds of that come from births.
Currently four states are already "majority-minority": California, Texas, Hawaii and New Mexico (as well as the District of Columbia).
Currently four states — Hawaii, New Mexico, California and Texas — as well as the District of Columbia have minority populations that exceed 50 percent.
By 2042, the census projects that the U.S. population will be less than half Anglo.
This article appears in Jun 10-16, 2010.