You all know that racial minorities are projected to become the U.S. majority in 40-50 years. How will this happen? Minorities make up nearly half the children currently born in the United States. It's simple math: Minority births on track to outnumber white births.
In fact, demographers say this year could be the "tipping point" when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babies born to whites. According to the latest census estmates available, minorities made up 48 percent of U.S. children born in 2008, compared to 37 percent in 1990.
The numbers are growing because immigration to the U.S. has boosted the number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years. More white women are waiting until they are older to have children, but it's unknown whether that will have a noticeable effect on the current trend of increasing minority newborns.
Broken down by race, about 52 percent of babies born in 2008 were white. That's compared to about 25 percent who were Hispanic, 15 percent black and 4 percent Asian. Another 4 percent were identified by their parents as multiracial.
This has strong implications for the 2010 Census, which begins next week, when more than 120 million U.S. households receive their census forms in the mail. The population figures are used to distribute federal aid and redraw legislative boundaries with racial and ethnic balance, as required by federal law.
Whites currently make up two-thirds of the total U.S. population, and recent census estimates suggest the number of minorities may not overtake the number of whites until 2050. Behold! The future! But when minorities are no longer the minority, will we still be called "minorities"? I guess we'll find out in 2050.
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