Welcome It: The Hispanicization of the USA

It should be absolutely no surprise to anyone that I am favourably disposed to this Wall Street Journal article which discusses demographic trends in the USA. That I adopt a pro-immigration stance is no mystery. However, this latest article should give even those who are critics of immigration a pause. Based on US Census Bureau statistics, Hispanics are by now the largest minority group in the country and are gaining ground very quickly, indeed. While immigration accounted for a lion's share of the increasing Hispanic population in the 1990s, this has since given way to births among Hispanics in the current decade. I have always suspected anti-immigrant sentiment as barely concealed racism of the Tancredo/Dobbs/Buchanan variety. It should be interesting to see how the followers of those famous uniculturalists react to this latest demographic trend. Hispanic-Americans are as American as anyone else.

Donald Terry of the Inter-American Development Bank puts things this way: "If you are pro-economic growth, you must be pro-immigration and pro-Hispanic, because we don't have the workers." The population replacement rate is 2.1, while the current fertility rate for a Caucasian woman is just 1.8. However, the rate for a Hispanic woman is 2.8. Do the math. Although the country is currently in economic doldrums, it is arguable that the USA has more favourable prospects than other developed countries in demographic terms, especially those in Europe. Don't even bother to mention Japan. Pragmatic Americans will deal with this emerging reality with equanimity. Certainly, it is necessary to integrate growing Hispanic communities by ensuring, for instance, that they don't become too self-contained and avoid becoming conversant in English. In any event, welcome to the future of the United States:

Hispanics now account for more than 15% of the U.S. population, and their surge is largely the result of births among people already in the country, according to new Census Bureau data. In an annual report, the Census said there are 45.5 million Hispanics in the U.S., up from 35.7 million in 2000, when they made up 12.6% of the population. It said growth among Hispanics was responsible for half of the U.S. population gains between 2000 and 2007.

In the 1990s, a flood of Hispanic immigrants explained most of the group's population rise. That has changed in recent years. Between 2006 and 2007, about 62% of the increase in Hispanics came from births. "The Hispanic population has taken on a momentum of its own," said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "If you close the borders tomorrow, there is still going to be a large Hispanic increase."

Hispanics increasingly are venturing beyond their traditional centers of population and moving to the Southeast and the Midwest, in search of better opportunities and a lower cost of living. The new numbers help show why presidential candidates have courted Hispanics aggressively in this campaign and run advertisements in Spanish. Hillary Clinton's popularity among Hispanic voters helped her win primaries in Texas and California. Both victories were key to her survival in the race for the Democratic nomination. "Latinos will become increasingly important because of their sheer numbers," said Daranee Petsod of Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees, an advocacy group.

Growth in spending by Hispanics is likely to outstrip that of the general population in coming years. Hispanics control more disposable income than any other minority group. The figure stands at $860 billion a year and is expected to hit $1.3 trillion by 2012, according to Jeffrey Humphreys, who monitors Hispanic demographic and economic trends at the University of Georgia's Selig Center. In recent years, consumer-goods companies such as Procter & Gamble and other businesses have invested significantly more advertising dollars to reach Hispanics, both in Spanish and English.

Between 2000 and 2007, 16 states -- among them West Virginia, Illinois and New Jersey -- saw their white population decline, according to the new Census data. Over the same period, whites accounted for a majority of population growth in only 11 states. About two-thirds of Americans are non-Hispanic white, while about 12% are non-Hispanic black, according to the Census Bureau.

Hispanic families tend to have more children. The population is also younger on average, so the large number of births isn't balanced out by deaths. Between July 2000 and 2007, there were 8.4 Hispanic births for every death. African-Americans had 2.4 births per death. The ratio for whites was 1.6.

As Americans age and the baby boom generation retires, Hispanics may help buttress the economy and the Social Security system. The average white woman in the U.S. has 1.8 children, which is under the replacement rate of 2.1 necessary to maintain a stable population. Hispanic women, meanwhile, give birth on average to 2.8 children.

According to the Pew Research Center, whites are projected to make up only 45% of the working-age population in 2050, down from 68% in 2005. The center projects that the share of Hispanics in the working-age population will rise to 31% from 14%. The ratio of senior citizens to working-age people age 25 to 64 will grow to 411 seniors per 1,000 working-age people in 2030 from 250 per 1,000 in 2010, according to Dowell Myers, a demographer at the University of Southern California.

"If you are pro-economic growth, you must be pro-immigration and pro-Hispanic, because we don't have the workers," says Donald Terry, a senior official at the Inter-American Development Bank in Washington.

Many immigrants are bypassing traditional gateway states in the Southwest, while many U.S.-born Hispanics have left states like California. "They are finding it more difficult to find work at the cost of living that's needed in some of the initial gateways" like California and Arizona, says William Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, a Washington think tank. There are shifts within the gateway states, as well.

Hispanics have also settled in small towns, to take jobs in such industries as meatpacking, textiles and construction. The children of Latin American immigrants are helping offset a decline or slower growth in the school-age population in states such as Georgia and Iowa. In Minnesota, the Hispanic population grew 166% during the 1990s, almost three times the rate for the country overall.

Many of these Hispanic communities are now growing swiftly even without taking immigration into account. "The base population of Hispanics already here is so large that it is virtually impossible for immigration to play as important a role in population growth as it has historically," said Mr. Humphreys of the University of Georgia.

The spreading out of Hispanic workers is causing changes in communities across the country, and some stresses. Communities must address language difficulties and educational needs of Hispanic students, who have historically scored lower on standardized tests than other students and recorded higher dropout rates.

Hispanics have been flocking to Hilton Head Island, S.C., since the mid-1990s in search of jobs. In 2006, officials there decided to offer bonuses of $150 a month to town employees who speak Spanish. "Day-to-day realities dictated that we improve our communication with the Hispanic population," said Hilton Head's human resources director, Nancy Gasen. The town also has offered Spanish classes to public-safety officials, including firefighters and emergency dispatchers, as well as other employees who deal with Spanish speakers.

In Crete, Neb., the public-school system now offers about 14 adult English classes that meet year-round, with 158 students and a waiting list of around 50. When the adult English classes started in 1990, the program had five students that were taught by volunteers.