California’s Hispanic population is slated to become the state’s majority ethnicity by the end of this year according to a new report by the governor’s office.
New ethnicity trends outlined in Gov Jerry Brown’s 2013-14 budget proposal revealed the state’s expected new majority while reasoning the state’s declining birth rates and increasing migration as causes.
As early as July Hispanics are expected to be equal in size to non-Hispanic whites before outpacing them, according to the report, with both demographics in that month reaching 39 per cent of the population.
It’s a swap that comes earlier than experts had expected.
Gov Brown, responding to the outlined future of his state, has since proposed shifting more school funding to those schools with more students in poverty and/or don’t speak English.
Currently 40 percent of the state’s students are living in poverty and 20 percent are non-native English speakers he said.
With the report having also found the state’s Hispanics being predominantly younger than whites – with 19 percent of Hispanics over the age of 50 compared to 43 percent of whites – he said ‘this is an aging society and inequality is growing.’
Nationally, Hispanics are already the fastest growing demographic, with their demographics seen increasing by 3.1 per cent since 2010.
More than half of the country’s Hispanic population live within just three states, however, of California, Texas and Florida.
State wise, New Mexico has the highest percentage of Hispanics among their entire population, seeing 46.7 per cent in last year’s census figures. White non-Hispanics make up 40.2 percent.
Among the state’s overall figures released, by July the state’s total population is expected to top 30 million after adding 300,000 or 0.8 percent more than last year.
That figure is uncharacteristically slow for the nation’s most populous state, with the report reasoning a sluggish economy stifling the historically fast-growing state’s population.
Once the economy improves the state expects to see growth at an average of 340,000 annually through 2017, a figure largely supported by birth opposed to migration.
Jordan Shepherd | Elite.
