US Population Growth Is Driven Only by Minorities with the White Population Declining
Lauren Fruen, Daily Mail, July 5, 2020
Population growth in the United States has been driven only by minorities in the last decade, according to a new report.
Data analysis by Brookings suggests the last decade will also be the first in America’s history where the white population declined in numbers.
Estimates released by the US Census Bureau ahead of the 2020 results show that last year, for the first time, more than 50 per cent of those under 16 also identified as a racial or ethnic minority.
The population grew by 19.5 million over the last decade, according to the report. That marks a growth of 6.3 per cent.
Data shows that 80 per cent of the population identified as white in 1980; by 2000 that had dropped to 69.1 per cent.
By 2019 those numbers are expected to show it now stands at 60.1 per cent.
The Latino or Hispanic population grew by 20 per cent, or 10 million people, the Asian American population by 29 per cent, or 4.3 million people and the black population grew 8.5 per cent, or 3.2 million people between 2010 and 2019.
Researcher William H. Frey writes: ‘Over the decade’s first nine years, racial and ethnic minorities accounted for all of the nation’s population growth.’
He says minorities ‘were responsible for population gains in many states, metropolitan areas, and counties that would have otherwise registered losses due to declines in their white populations’.
Frey adds: ‘The Census Bureau was not projecting white population losses to occur until after 2024. This makes any national population growth even more reliant on other race and ethnic groups.’
Nearly four in 10 Americans are now also said to identify with an ethnic group other than white.
Cities including New York, Los Angeles and Miami now have minority-white populations, according to the report.
‘Going forward, growth in America’s youth will become increasingly dependent on nonwhite minority contributions’, Frey adds.
