More than half of the children in California under age 18 are now Latinos, according to new figures the U.S. Census Bureau released on Tuesday.
Among all residents of the nation’s most populous state, Hispanics now amount to 38 percent, and non-Hispanic whites account for 40 percent. The Hispanic population has risen nearly 28 percent in the past 10 years, while the white population had dropped 5.4 percent, and the state is “rapidly approaching the day when Hispanics overtake whites” in overall population,
The Washington Post reports.
“Hispanics are the future of California,” said William Frey, a demographer with the Brookings Institution.
Asians now compose 12.8 percent of California residents, and blacks, 5.8 percent.
Total population has reached 37 million, but growth has slowed and came to a virtual halt in the final two years of the past decade.
The census figures “suggest the Golden State is losing its luster as growth has slowed and many of its residents have decamped for states where housing is cheaper,” the Post observed.
Despite the growth of their numbers in California, Hispanics and Asians are among those leaving the state for other places in the country.
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