For the first time since the founding of the nation, the majority of babies being born in the U.S. are not of European descent. According to the Census Bureau, 50.4 percent of babies born between July 2010 and 2011 were of ancestries classified as minorities.
William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, told The Wall Street Journal that African-Americans make up the largest minority group among people over the age of 50, but that Hispanics are second to Caucasians as the second largest demographic group for those younger than 50. The median age for Hispanics in the U.S. is under 28 years of age.
"It's a major turning point for American society," Mr. Frey said of the latest Census figures. "We're moving from a largely white and black population to one which is much more diverse and is a big contrast from what most baby boomers grew up with."
Roderick Harrison, a sociologist at Howard University and a former chief of racial statistics at the Census Bureau, echoed Mr. Frey's remarks.
"This is an important landmark," he told The Associated Press. "This generation is growing up much more accustomed to diversity than its elders."
According to the Census findings, three metropolitan areas in the U.S. — Columbus, Ga.; Dallas-Fort Worth; and Vineland-Millville, N.J. — are the most recent markets where minorities make up the majority of residents. Eleven percent of counties in the U.S. now have minorities accounting for at least half the population.