America's
workforce, politics and place on the world stage will soon be changed forever.
So great
and so rapid are the shifts in the country's population, that, in the coming
decade, the US is set to be transformed far more than other nations.
Almost half of millennials and
children are from ethnic minority groups and it is this
great diversity that is at the heart of demographic changes.
As the
country comes to rely on them for its future prosperity, everyone will have to
consider how society must change to make a success of this new reality.
A
fearful generation
Donald
Trump rode into the White House on a wave of support from older
white Americans - those over the age of 45.
Many were
drawn to his promise of creating a better economy.
But part of
Mr Trump's appeal was his stance on growing immigrant populations
and political correctness.
His
position reflected the fears of some older whites - part of a cultural
generation gap identified by national polling in recent years.
More than half of white baby boomers and older Americans
questioned for a 2011 survey by the Pew Research Center saw the growing numbers
of newcomers from other lands as a threat to American values and customs.
And older white Americans were found by a 2015 PRRI poll to
be more likely than younger generations to think the country's culture and
values are worse today than in the 1950s.
Yet despite their fears, the economic well-being of the
nation may well hinge on this younger and more diverse population.
A rapidly ageing white population
The white population of the United States will soon be on
the decline.
The median age of whites - the point at which half the
population is older and half younger - is now 43.
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