Minority babies are the majority among the nation’s infants, but only just

*The day minorites become the majority in the U.S. is already here, among babies younger than 1-year-old. We’re not surprised. VL

By D’Vera Cohn, Pew Research Center Factank (3 minute read)

The U.S. is projected to have no racial or ethnic group as its majority within the next several decades, but that day apparently is already here for the nation’s youngest children, according to new Census Bureau population estimates.

The bureau’s estimates for July 1, 2015, released today, say that just over half – 50.2% – of U.S. babies younger than 1 year old were racial or ethnic minorities. In sheer numbers, there were 1,995,102 minority babies compared with 1,982,936 non-Hispanic white infants, according to the census estimates. The new estimates also indicate that this crossover occurred in 2013, so the pattern seems well established.

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Pinpointing the exact year when minorities outnumbered non-Hispanic whites among newborns has been difficult. The change among newborns is part of a projected U.S. demographic shift . . . READ MORE 

D’Vera Cohn is a senior writer/editor focusing on social and demographic trends at Pew Research Center.

[Photo by Daniel Lobo/Flickr]