American Dark Age picks up the pace.
Minorities make up nearly half the children born in the U.S., part of ahistoric trend in which minorities are expected to become the U.S.majority over the next 40 years.
In fact, demographers say this year could be the “tipping point”when the number of babies born to minorities outnumbers that of babiesborn to whites.
The numbers are growing because immigration to the U.S. has boostedthe number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years.Minorities made up 48 percent of U.S. children born in 2008, the latestcensus estimates available, compared to 37 percent in 1990.
“Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majoritycountry by the middle of the century. For America’s children, thefuture is now,” said Kenneth Johnson, a sociology professor at theUniversity of New Hampshire who researched many of the racial trends ina paper being released Wednesday.
Johnson explained there are now more Hispanic women of primechildbearing age who tend to have more children than women of otherraces. More white women are waiting until they are older to havechildren, but it is not yet known whether that will have a noticeableeffect on the current trend of increasing minority newborns.
The numbers highlight the nation’s growing racial and age divide,seen in pockets of communities across the U.S., which could heightentensions in current policy debates from immigration reform andeducation to health care and Social Security.