May 10, 2006 -- Almost Half of Preschoolers Are Minorities, Census Bureau Says

The Census Bureau said today that 45 percent of the U.S. population under the age of five years belong to minorities. The Census describes as “minority” persons who are other than single-race non-Hispanic white. The new figures make preschoolers the largest and fastest growing group of minorities in the U.S. population, with implications for education, the workforce, and Social Security in the coming decades. The Census Bureau reported U.S. population as a whole was 296.4 million in 2005, with Hispanics the largest minority group (42.7 million), followed by blacks (39.7 million), Asians (14.4 million), American Indians and Alaska natives (4.5 million), and native Hawaiians and other Pacific islanders (990,000). Hispanics are the fastest-growing group, increasing by 3.3 percent between July 1, 2004, and July 2, 2005, largely as the result of “natural increase” (births minus deaths) of 800,000 persons, plus immigration of 500,000. The Census Bureau report with tables is available at www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/006808.html.