Hispanic Youths Outnumber Blacks
Federal Report Reveals Crest of Wave That Will Reshape
U.S. Demographic Mosaic
By Barbara Vobejda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 15, 1998
The number of Hispanic children in this country has surpassed the
number of African American children, the federal government reported
yesterday, signaling the leading edge of a demographic wave that will
transform the national profile in the coming decades.
There are now 10.5 million Hispanic children under age 18,
outnumbering non-Hispanic black children by 35,000. That numerical
benchmark constitutes the earliest indicator of a population change
that experts have predicted for some time -- the point seven years
from now when Hispanics will become the nation's largest minority
group.
Taken together, the trend lines underscore the racial and ethnic
reconfiguration that is quickly becoming apparent in this country, as
white Americans steadily decline as a share of the population and
communities coast to coast take on a much more diverse character.
Since birth rates are generally higher among Hispanic women, the
makeover is occuring first among the nation's children, where
classrooms and playgrounds and soccer fields in many communities now
reflect a broad range of languages and cultures.
"Children are experiencing the diversity earlier than we are," said
Ken Bryson, senior analyst at the Census Bureau. "People who have
children in school may be aware that the school they went to is not
the school their children are going to."
In just a generation, the report said, white non-Hispanic children
have declined from 74 percent to 66 percent of all children. And by
2020, projections show, more than one in five children will be of
Hispanic origin.
Also, the number of school-age children who speak a language other
than English at home and have difficulty speaking English has doubled
since 1979, making up 5 percent of all children in those age groups.
In many communities, these changes are igniting a debate over the
merits of bilingual education, particularly in California, where
non-Hispanic whites will no longer be the majority as early as next
year. In an initiative that could trigger similar efforts elsewhere,
California voters recently rejected the practice of teaching children
in English and their native languages in favor of a year of intensive
instruction in English.
The report, "America's Children: Key National Indicators of
Well-Being," was released by a consortium of federal agencies and
dealt with a range of measures describing the nation's population
under 18.
The statistics, from health to economic status and educational
achievement, portrayed improvements in some areas and serious problems
in others.
Smoking, drinking and drug use, for example, have been rising across
racial and ethnic groups, not just among older teens but even those as
young as 13. Reading scores are declining among ninth graders. And the
proportion of poor children without sufficient food increased from 9
percent in 1994 to 15 percent two years later.
But at the same time, infant mortality is down, immunization rates
have improved, teen births have declined and more parents are reading
to their children every day.
Among the more dramatic improvements was the decline in the proportion
of children with elevated levels of lead in their blood, a condition
that can cause behavior problems and lowered intelligence.
In the late 1970s, 88 percent of children age 5 and under had elevated
levels of lead. But that figure fell to just 6 percent by the late
1980s and early '90s, the result of legislation banning lead in paint
and plumbing supplies, and the phaseout of lead in gasoline, the
report said.
"That's an enormous public health accomplishment, and it came about by
specific legislation," said Duane Alexander, director of the National
Institute for Child Health and Human Development.
Undergirding all of the other statistics are the demographic changes
recasting the population of children.
The Census Bureau counts anyone as Hispanic who identifies themselves
as such, even if they also identify themselves as white or black. If
Hispanics who also consider themselves black were counted as African
American, that group would continue to outnumber Hispanics for another
three years, according to projections.
The growth in the number of Hispanic children, said Harry Pachon,
president of the Tomas Rivera Policy Institute, a California research
group, "is a good indicator that, as the turn of the century
approaches, we're going to have to seriously grapple with the issue of
moving from a biracial to a multiethnic society.
"The sad thing is that we don't turn that indicator into a positive,"
he said. "If 30 percent [of Hispanic children] are having difficulty
speaking English, that means there is proficiency in speaking Spanish.
What we have in our own back yard is a population that can serve as an
economic resource."
c Copyright 1998 The Washington Post Company