Census shows whites lose US majority among babies

WASHINGTON - For the first time, more than half of children under 2 years in the United States are minorities, which is part of a change in the course of scanning and a widening gap between the age mostly white Americans old and young rapidly growing ethnic populations that could reshape the government policies.

Census Preliminary estimates also show the proportion of African American households headed by women - especially single mothers - now more than African-American households with married couples, reflecting the trend of overall decline in American marriages.

The results, based on data from the last government, offer a glimpse of the final 2010 census results to be released this summer that provide a detailed breakdown by age, race and domestic relations.

Demographers say the figures give the best confirmation yet of a changing social order, in which racial and ethnic minorities become the majority of the United States by mid-century.

"We are moving towards a recognition that we live in a world different from the 1950s, when two married heterosexual parents are no longer the norm for many children, particularly children of color," said Laura Speer , coordinator of the Kids Count project for the Baltimore-based Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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"Clearly, the younger generation is very different demographically older people, something to keep in mind that politics is played on the way programs for the elderly is responsible," she said. "He is essential that children are capable of growing international competition and keep the state of the economy rolling. "

Currently, non-Hispanic whites account for only less than half of all children aged 3, who is the youngest age group shown in the Census Bureau in October 2009 Annual Survey, the most recent. In 1990, over 60 percent of children in this age group were white.

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution who analyzed the data, said figures from the 2009 survey can sometimes be inaccurate compared to the 2010 census, which questions the entire nation. But he said when factoring in the 2010 data published to date, minorities outnumber whites in babies under 2.

Preliminary figures are based on an analysis of the Current Population Survey and 2009 Survey of American Community, which sampled three million American households to determine that whites accounted for 51 percent of babies under 2. After taking into account a larger than expected jump in the minority child population in the 2010 census, the share of white babies fell below 50 percent.