Published Thursday | May 1, 2008
Census: About 25% of U.S. kids under 5 are Hispanic
THE WASHINGTON POST
http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=1 ... d=10323909

WASHINGTON — Hispanics, the nation's largest and fastest-growing minority group, now account for about one in four children younger than 5 in the United States, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates being released today.

The increase from nearly one in five in 2000 has broad implications for governments, communities and schools nationwide, suggesting that the sharp rise in the Hispanic population that demographers forecast for midcentury will occur even sooner among younger generations.

"Hispanics have both a larger proportion of people in their childbearing years and tend to have slightly more children," said Jeffrey Passel, senior demographer at the Pew Hispanic Center and co-author of a recent report predicting the nation's Latino population will double from 15 percent today to 30 percent by 2050.

"So this means that in five years, a quarter of the 5- to 9-year-olds will be Hispanic, and in 10 years a quarter of the 10- to 14-year-olds will be Hispanic," Passel said

Hispanics account for more than half the children younger than 5 in New Mexico and California, where their share of the overall state population is 44 percent and 36 percent, respectively. In Texas, Arizona, Nevada and Colorado, about one-third or more of children younger than 5 are Hispanic.

The census figures showed a slight drop in immigration to the United States by Hispanics from July 1, 2006, to July 1, 2007, vs. the previous 12-month period. That suggests the U.S. economic slowdown might have had some impact on immigration.

For nearly a decade, U.S. births have accounted for a far greater share of the growth in the Hispanic population than immigration.