In the US, Minority Babies Are in the Minority No Longer

Impact

Minority babies have officially become the majority among their cohort.

According to newly released United States Census Bureau population estimates for July 1, 2015, 50.2%, or just a shade over half, of the nation's babies under 1 year of age were racial or ethnic minorities.

The Pew Research Center examined those numbers further: For July 1, 2015, there were 1,995,102 minority babies, versus 1,982,936 non-Hispanic white infants. As Pew noted, the trend is apparently well-established: The shift from non-Hispanic white babies being the majority to the minority happened in 2013, and has held strong since, according to the Census data.

Pew Research Center

Immigration and birth trends have long predicted that demographics of American adults will eventually shift from being mostly non-Hispanic whites to having no dominant racial or ethnic majority, Pew noted, but it seems currently only the nation's infant population has made the switch.

The Census Bureau information also suggests that as time passes and those majority-minority babies grow up, the current trend will ripple up through age groups within the U.S., according to Pew.

So, when will the U.S. see non-Hispanic whites become the minority throughout the general population? According to a Pew Research Center data analysis and projection released in September, by 2055 they will compose less than half of the overall population.

The shifting demographics are caused by many factors, one of which is the fact that racial and ethnic minorities are responsible for much of the nation's growth in the 21st century, according to Pew. While the non-Hispanic white population has also increased, certain minority groups, including Hispanics, have had higher rates of birth.

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