Experts predict the 2020 census will show a decline in the white population for the first time in U.S. history and that the under 18 population is likely to be majority non-white.
For the first time, the percentage of the white population could fall below 60%. According to The Washington Post, both benchmarks weren’t expected for another decade.
“Twenty years ago, if you told people this was going to be the case, they wouldn’t have believed you,” William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, told the Post. “The country is changing dramatically.”
Frey added if the census data confirms the decline of the white population in America, the benchmark will have come about eight years earlier than expected.
Annual updates of the 2010 census estimated the country’s white population shrinking, and all population growth comes from minorities. The new census data, which will be released this week, will show how neighborhoods’ ethnic, racial, and voting-age populations have changed over the last decade. The data is typically used to redraw polling districts for the next decade.
The Hill reports the actual numbers may be more drastic than it seems, considering the Trump administration stopped the census count earlier than expected. Early indications show an undercount of Latinos, as they’re reluctant to fill out their forms due to fear of Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Indigenous populations are also often undercounted and racial and ethnic groups that are not listed on the census form.
Source: Census Shows Number Of White Americans Have Declined For First Time In History
