In Texas, 7 in 10 Children Under Age 1 Are Minorities

For the first time, as of 2011, more than half of the children under age 1 in the U.S. were minorities, the newest benchmark illustrating the widening age gap between mostly white, older Americans and fast-growing, younger minority populations, particularly Hispanics.

{snip}

In Texas, nearly 7 in 10 people under age 1 were minorities as of July 2011, a slight increase from 2010, according to new census estimates out today. The data, covering the period from April 2010 to July 2011, are the first set of population estimates by race, Hispanic origin, age and sex since the decennial census. The Census Bureau said it defines a minority as anyone who is not single-race white.

Demographers have said for some time now that they expect racial and ethnic minorities will become the U.S. majority by midcentury. Texas became a majority-minority state in 2004, and in 2010, Hispanics accounted for 65 percent of the state’s growth since 2000.

According to today’s census data, Hispanics remained the nation’s largest minority group in 2011, at 52 million. They also were the fastest growing; their numbers increased 3.1 percent since 2010, and Hispanics now constitute 16.7 percent of the U.S. population.

{snip}