by Joe Snyder
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America is growing by leaps and bounds, as the saying goes but many Americans will not like what they witness. There will be 400 million Americans in 2043. Between the last census in 2000 and the one in 2050, non-Hispanic whites will have dwindled from 69 percent to a bare 50.1 percent. The share of Hispanics will have doubled to 24 percent and Asians will have doubled to eight percent of the population. Afro-Americans will have edged up to 14 percent.
In other words, the United States will be on the edge of becoming a majority of minorities. Wars, natural disasters. shifts in the economy, unforeseen social and political developments, whatever, could alter these statistics. Only one thing could change this and that would be clamping down on immigration or America’s unusually high teen pregnancy rate could drop. Scientific or medical advances could extend longevity.
Another factor is that Americans are moving west and south. The 10 fastest growing states and cities are all in those regions, mostly in the west. Our great American mid-section will continue to empty out. If such shifts continue it will have a great impact on political matters, even changing the membership in the House of Representatives.
An increasing Hispanic population – which could see a 188 percent growth between now and 2050, according to the Census Bureau, could affect political balance as well. At the same time our population will become relatively older. A person born in 1967 when the population reached 200 million, could be expected to live 70.5 years. Life expectancy for those born today is 77.8 years.
The impact of the aging baby boom generation will be felt on Social Security and Medicare. Modern health care and medications is extending life and that will increase the rate of population growth as well as political impact.
As our nation moves toward 400 million people, Americans are expected to marry later in life and more will live alone. Between 1970 and 2005, the median age of first marriages moved from 23 to 27 for men and from 21 to 26 for women. Over the same period the percentage of single-person households grew from 17 percent to 26 percent. Studies show that future growth will occur in the south and west.
The population clock continues to move. Every 13 seconds somebody dies. Every 31 seconds there is another immigrant — legal or illegal. It adds up to a net gain, including births, of one person every 11 seconds or about 8,000 every day. The growth of the Hispanic population in America, whether by circumstance or planning, will undoubtedly impact America’s future in one way or another.
There is also the possibility that we Americans will become more ecumenical at the way we look at things and that we will display, willingly or unwillingly, more tolerance for folks from other backgrounds. It is well past time for that effort to overcome our arrogance and pride.