[Evergrey]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-29-hispanics_N.htm

Births fueling Hispanic growth

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Births, not immigration, now account for most of the growth in the nation's Hispanic population, a distinct reversal of trends of the past 30 years.

The Hispanic baby boom is transforming the demographics of small-town America in a dramatic way. Some rural counties where the population had been shrinking and aging are growing because of Hispanic immigration and births and now must provide services for the young.

"In all of the uproar over immigration, this is getting missed," says Kenneth Johnson, demographer at the University of New Hampshire's Carsey Institute. "All the focus is on immigration, immigration, immigration. At some point, it's not. It's natural increase."

This natural increase — more births than deaths — is accelerating among Hispanics in the USA because they are younger than the U.S. population as a whole. Their median age is 27.4, compared with 37.9 overall, 40.8 for whites, 35.4 for Asians and 31.1 for blacks.

Because they are younger and likely to have more children, Hispanics are having an impact that far outlasts their initial entry into the country.

From 2000 to 2007, the Hispanic population grew by 10.2 million — 58.6% from natural increase. The total U.S. population grew 20.2 million, about 60% from natural increase, in that period. About 6.8 million Hispanics were born and 812,000 died, according to Johnson's research of data from the National Center for Health Statistics.

In some established immigrant gateways such as Los Angeles and Chicago, all the Hispanic growth comes from natural increase, according to Johnson's analysis.

The impact on rural America is seen in areas such as Bureau and Putnam counties, Ill., where dentist Ernesto Villalobos treats a growing Hispanic population. Since the counties' health department dental clinic in the rural part of north-central Illinois hired the Spanish-speaking Villalobos about three years ago, the number of patients has grown from 3,000 to 8,000.

The growth of Hispanic populations in parts of the country where few lived previously has intensified this decade. From 2000 to 2005, 221 counties would not have grown except for Hispanics, according to research by Johnson and Daniel Lichter at Cornell University. Their findings are reported in this month's Population and Development Review, a demographic journal published by the Population Council.

For declining counties, many in the Great Plains, the growth in young Hispanics may be the only way out of a population spiral.

"Demographically, they can't recover unless something like this happens," Johnson says. "There's no way older white populations can replace themselves."

Because more than half of births to Hispanic immigrants are to low-income women who have no high school degree, a natural population increase challenges communities, says Steve Camarota, research director at the Center for Immigration Studies, which promotes limits on immigration.

"It's a huge growth in low-income population and low tax payments," he says. "If the town is not viable economically, immigration is not going to fix that problem."

READERS: Thanks to everyone who has joined in on the conversation below. We encourage you to continue to do so, but please keep your comments civil and respectful. Also keep in mind the community guidelines, particularly those prohibiting obscenities, hate speech and personal attacks. Thank you.

[Evergrey]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-29-hispanicside_N.htm

Counties feel impact of Hispanic immigrants

http://i.usatoday.net/news/_photos/2008/06/29/hispanicstoryx-large.jpg
By Adam Gerik, USA TODAY
Historic buildings line Main Street in downtown Princeton, Ill. Although Bureau County has experienced declining population, there has been an influx of Hispanics.

http://images.usatoday.com/news/graphics/hispanic_birth/hispanicmap-large.jpg
Source: USA TODAY map by Paul Overberg, analysis of Census and National Center for Health Statistics data by Kenneth Johnson, University of New Hampshire.
The Hispanic population is growing more from births than immigration in many U.S. counties.

By Haya El Nasser, USA TODAY
Workers at the health department for Illinois' Bureau and Putnam counties don't need to look at a schedule to see whether the bilingual dentist is on duty.

"We tease around here that it's Spanish day because that's all we hear in the hallway," says Diana Rawlings, public health administrator for the two counties.

Since the agency's dental clinic in a rural part of north-central Illinois hired a Spanish-speaking dentist about three years ago, the number of patients has grown from 3,000 to 8,000.

"The Hispanic community is getting more and more comfortable coming here, and that's the goal of public health," Rawlings says. "We do see a lot of children in our dental clinic."

The arrival of Hispanics in remote and rural areas far from traditional gateways has been going on for years. What's new is a pronounced demographic shift unfolding because these young immigrants are having children. Births outnumber deaths, and the population increases.

Though it's happening everywhere immigrants are settling, the impact is more striking in smaller, rural communities that have not grown or have been shrinking because young people have been leaving and those who stay are older and dying.

The contrasting trend will reshape the social and cultural fabric of rural America for decades, according to new research.

"Substantial natural increase among new Hispanic immigrants has dampened or even offset recent … population declines in rural communities," says Kenneth Johnson, co-author of research published in a demographic journal this month. "Hispanic population growth has taken on a demographic momentum of its own. Restricting immigration will not end the browning of America."

Bureau County has had a net population loss since 1980, but the Hispanic population is growing, attracted by food processing plants there and in neighboring counties.

Now, more than half of the growth in Hispanics comes from births.

"In our community, of the people who have lived here since the 1950s, the majority are elderly citizens," says Don Bosnich, president of Depue Village. "Of the Hispanic population, I would guess that 75% of them are new."

Grady County, Ga., rich with fields that grow peanuts, soybeans and corn on the Florida state line, grew about 4% to 24,719 from 2000 to 2006. The number of Hispanics almost doubled to 2,382, according to Census estimates.

"It's put a strain on our emergency services," says Rusty Moye, county administrator, who says the number of Hispanics is underestimated. "They're actually using our emergency rooms as their health clinics because when they get sick, they have no doctor. They're all indigents."

Despite newcomers' boost to dwindling populations, communities are not always convinced that supporting them is worth the cost.

"It can create real challenges in the long term," says Steve Camarota, research director for the Center for Immigration Studies, a group that favors limiting immigration.

For a nation bracing to support 79 million Baby Boomers in their old age, the growing and younger population of Hispanics should be viewed as economic salvation, says Dowell Myers, demographer at the University of Southern California and author of Immigrants and Boomers: Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America.

"Children are always a fiscal burden, yet children are also the lifeblood of every community," he says. "What's killing Japan and threatening the economic future of Europe is that they don't have enough kids, and that's what's depriving these rural areas in America."

The upward mobility of immigrants is not visible until they have been here awhile, Myers says. His research shows substantial progress the longer they're in the USA. As Baby Boomers age, "immigration may be the best way to get needed workers, taxpayers and home buyers," he says.

[J. Will]

"The total U.S. population grew 20.2 million, about 60% from natural increase, in that period."

That's really surprising to me. I've read that Canada's population would be in slight decline were it not for immigration. The same is true of many other countries, like Germany.

[arlekin_m]

are you sure it's not from the onion?

[LMich]

"The total U.S. population grew 20.2 million, about 60% from natural increase, in that period."

That's really surprising to me. I've read that Canada's population would be in slight decline were it not for immigration. The same is true of many other countries, like Germany.

Americans, across both racial and ethnic lines, tend to have a higher birthrate than most other developed countries. I think it's been this way for quite some time, too.

[Crawford]

"The total U.S. population grew 20.2 million, about 60% from natural increase, in that period."

That's really surprising to me. I've read that Canada's population would be in slight decline were it not for immigration. The same is true of many other countries, like Germany.

Germany's population IS in decline. Despite heavy immigration, the birth rate of only 1.3 means that Germany is losing over 100,000 residents annually (and it is accelerating).

In comparison, the U.S. has a birthrate of 2.2

Canada has a much lower birth rate than the U.S., but it has much higher immigration rates, so it is growing about the same as the U.S.

The U.S. has the highest birth rate among the rich nations. France is second. France actually has very low immigration (despite stereotypes to the contrary) and is growing due to internal growth.

France. the U.K., Ireland, Netherlands and Norway (maybe Sweden too?) all have healthy birth rates for Europe. Basically everyone else in Eueope has some concerns.

Among the countries losing population: South Korea, Japan, Italy, Greece, Germany, Russia and most of Eastern Europe.

Spain, China and Thailand (!) will likely start losing population very soon.

Hong Kong and Singapore have some of the lowest rates in the world, but they grow through immigration.

I think South Korea is the lowest on earth.

[alex1]

s. Korea is the lowest on earth.

Italy's growth rate is the lowest in Europe I believe. Or one of the lowest at 1.1.

The New York Times Magazine just did an article on birthrates this past weekend.

Among the findings were that countries that have been more conservative or traditional in the past tend to have lower birth rates (Italy, Greece and Spain). Countries with the highest birthrates are actually in more progressive and liberal countries of Europe (Norway, France, UK...).

Link for those interested in details the details (includes an explanation why the U.S. continues to buck the falling birthrate trend):
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/magazine/

[Nutterbug]

Is it bad news that Japan, South Korea and Europe's populations are falling? Good for the environment, though possibly bad for the population's retirement prospects. But if you live so long that you have to retire, you're living too long anyways.

[LMich]

Yes, because the elderly are burdens to society.

[Nutterbug]

Yes, because the elderly are burdens to society.

It wasn't an issue until humans started messing with nature and directed medical science toward staving off death and keeping people alive forever in every way possible, even when every part of their body is falling apart.

[Abner]

Actually, disability rates at every age have been falling for the last hundred or so years. In fact they've been falling so quickly, and workplace environments have gotten so much better, that the proportion of people who are disabled (in the sense of having reduced capacity to work for medical reasons) has been decreasing, or at most stagnant, despite generally rising lifespans.

[MolsonExport]

^this has also been my understanding, contrary to Nutter's view.

[mcfinley]

It wasn't an issue until humans started messing with nature and directed medical science toward staving off death and keeping people alive forever in every way possible, even when every part of their body is falling apart.

Expanding lifespans have been largely overstated by the media. While the mean lifespan has risen dramatically over the last couple centuries, the median lifespan has edged up by a few years. Consider how many fewer children are expected to die of disease or young adults are expected to be fatally injured on the job. These common occurrences drove the mean lifespan down substantially; but if people had survived early accident and disease back in the day, an individual could still be expected to reach 70 years old with adequate nutrition.

Moreover, as we move towards intellectual and service industries, the productivity of the elderly has generally outpaced the difference in lifespan (of course, most people feel entitled to retire at the arbitrary age of 65, but that's an entirely different matter).

[Echo Park]

"Because more than half of births to Hispanic immigrants are to low-income women who have no high school degree, a natural population increase challenges communities"

this is a very alarming trend.

[Echo Park]

educated people of all colors need to start fucking more.

[VivaLFuego]

It wasn't an issue until humans started messing with nature and directed medical science toward staving off death and keeping people alive forever in every way possible, even when every part of their body is falling apart.

OK, you first, bud.

[brickell]

I haven't noticed this trend in Miami. It seems the article is referring mainly to the migrant (and settled migrants) population.

[JMancuso]

i thought this was obvious. had to take my mother to county clinic a while back and at least 80% of the people in the waiting area were very young hispanic women (early 20's) seeking neonatal care and already had a couple of kids.

[ukw]

Among the findings were that countries that have been more conservative or traditional in the past tend to have lower birth rates (Italy, Greece and Spain). Countries with the highest birthrates are actually in more progressive and liberal countries of Europe (Norway, France, UK...).


I'm afraid that's not true!!!

That NYT article you're talking about mentioned 2 exceptions in Europe that defy this rule, and nobody knows why -- Germany and Austria.

These two countries are liberal and progressive and yet have extremely low birthrates. The article just gave up trying to explain that, aside from mentioning it briefly.

[urbanactivistTX]

Is it bad news that Japan, South Korea and Europe's populations are falling? Good for the environment, though possibly bad for the population's retirement prospects. But if you live so long that you have to retire, you're living too long anyways.

So I suppose your plan is to die young???

[NYC4Life]

Which ever countries whose populations are either on the decline or on the rise, overall the world population continues to increase, a trend that has never slowed.

[Nutterbug]

So I suppose your plan is to die young???

If you don't have any kids or grandkids, what'll keep you going anyways? It's not like you'll ever relive the glory of your younger years once you get to that age. Rotting on a wheelchair in a retirement home and peeing my pants isn't my idea of living.

[Fusey]

Italy has too many mammoni (mama's boys) and population growth is only getting worse. Most of my cousins there don't even have a brother or sister.

[Abner]

Expanding lifespans have been largely overstated by the media. While the mean lifespan has risen dramatically over the last couple centuries, the median lifespan has edged up by a few years. Consider how many fewer children are expected to die of disease or young adults are expected to be fatally injured on the job. These common occurrences drove the mean lifespan down substantially; but if people had survived early accident and disease back in the day, an individual could still be expected to reach 70 years old with adequate nutrition.

This is a common belief but it is now known to be somewhat off. Life expectancy at age 65, for example, has gone from 12 years in 1900 to about 17 years in 2000; fewer than 13% of 65 year olds in 1900 could expect to reach 85, compared to 42% today. Now that the mortality transition has gone almost as far as it can go among the young, some of the largest reductions in mortality are occurring among people over age 80.

And the changes that have occurred in disability are only now starting to be fully understood. Today we often assume that people in the past had lower disability rates because they didn't live to advanced ages, but in fact, things that we now consider disabilities of the elderly--arthritis, cognitive disorders, cardiovascular disease, hernias, etc.--were commonplace 100 years ago by age 50, and people then were crippled by conditions like chronic diarrhea and hemorrhoids that are comparatively insignificant (in affliction rates and severity) today. I think a lot of the anxiety over aging populations comes from two things: continued retirement at or below age 65, and extremely high medical costs, rather than disability per se.

As far as whether high birthrates among low-educated, low-skilled Hispanic women are something to be very concerned about or not, in what very significant way is this population so different from immigrants 100 years ago?

[Nutterbug]

As far as whether high birthrates among low-educated, low-skilled Hispanic women are something to be very concerned about or not, in what very significant way is this population so different from immigrants 100 years ago?

They have a guy in a big, white pointy hat telling them that they'll go to hell if they use birth control?

[Abner]

They have a guy in a big, white pointy hat telling them that they'll go to hell if they use birth control?

As opposed to Irish and Italian immigrants 100 years ago, who in addition to being Catholic didn't have birth control to begin with--yet within a few generations of immigration, their fertility converged to the general American level. Are you afraid of the Polish, too?

[Crawford]

This fear of births to uneducated Latins is just nativism.

After one generation in the U.S., the birthrates plummet.

And most Latin countries do not have high birthrates. Some countries in Latin America have lower birthrates than the U.S.

Contrary to stereotype, Mexico does not have a particularly high birthrate. It once did, but it has plummeted in recent years.

The reason that poor Mexican immigrants have a lot of children is because they are poor rural folks. Just like if they moved to Mexico City or Guadalajara, once they are in the U.S., their birthrates plummet.

[Rufus]

The reason that poor Mexican immigrants have a lot of children is because they are poor rural folks.

Right, they breed 'em for work.

[Paul in S.A TX]

I feel if hispanics are here legally, they have ever right to be here. Just like every other race that came form elsewhere, and has started roots here. Why point out the less fortunate hispanics, and, not the less fortunate in general using the system. Just imagine if a African country bordered U.S. States, the problem would be ten fold.

The Browning of America? Hispanics are not all brown, what a ignorant choice of words. The brown skin he should refer to is more of a meztizo-indian indigent class. In Mexico, you are either Wealthy or Poor, white or brown. It's sad but even in Mexico, the more indian looking you are, the more you are considered a second class citizen. Unfortunately hate and ignorance is everywhere, the U.S. is one of the worst, I'll say Germany and Israel are the most.

I'm a Mexican American, born here, and, happen to have light skin.
Anyhow, I don't like the way Hispanics are generalized. Hispanics can be just as American Pie as Non Hispanic Whites. I bet most Non Hispanic whites don't even know when a Mexican walks right by them. I'm sure the image of a laborer out in the fields first comes to mind, which is further from the truth.

The brown Mexicans? I love the spicy music, it gets me excited, lol. Some of the guys are yummy.
Mexican Boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye_ENMz31v8&NR=1

Mexican Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IPuJBBT_0

[westak]

I feel if hispanics are here legally, they have ever right to be here. Just like every other race that came form elsewhere, and has started roots here. Why point out the less fortunate hispanics, and, not the less fortunate in general using the system. Just imagine if a African country bordered U.S. States, the problem would be ten fold.

The Browning of America? Hispanics are not all brown, what a ignorant choice of words. The brown skin he should refer to is more of a meztizo-indian indigent class. In Mexico, you are either Wealthy or Poor, white or brown. It's sad but even in Mexico, the more indian looking you are, the more you are considered a second class citizen. Unfortunately hate and ignorance is everywhere, the U.S. is one of the worst, I'll say Germany and Israel are the most.

I'm a Mexican American, born here, and, happen to have light skin.
Anyhow, I don't like the way Hispanics are generalized. Hispanics can be just as American Pie as Non Hispanic Whites. I bet most Non Hispanic whites don't even know when a Mexican walks right by them. I'm sure the image of a laborer out in the fields first comes to mind, which is further from the truth.

The brown Mexicans? I love the spicy music, it gets me excited, lol. Some of the guys are yummy.
Mexican Boys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ye_ENMz31v8&NR=1

Mexican Girls

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_IPuJBBT_0

lol, classic

[Crawford]

The Browning of America? Hispanics are not all brown, what a ignorant choice of words.

I grew up in Germany and my GF is Mexican, yet I am darker than her. :shrug:

[urbanactivistTX]

We've GOT to work on our language here....

When did "Latin" become interchangeable with "Latino" or "Hispanic"????

Last time I checked, Latin implies the cultures associated and derived from ancient Italy... you know where ROME was located?

Just like this jumble of mess that I'm typing on the keyboard (modern English) is a semi-Romantic language-- it developed concurrently from archaic French and archaic German/Celt.

So to use a term like LATIN would imply derivation of over HALF of the Western World, including the former British Empire. Hispanic implies a direct origin from Spain.

[Paul in S.A TX]

lol, classic

I thought I'd lighten the mood with the videos, touchie subject, will at least for me. I don't care much for these topics which seem to be more racist driven :shrug:

[Serenade]

Immigration is the best thing going for this country. People were making the same complaints about Germans 300 years ago, Irish 200 years ago, Italians 100 years ago, and Asians 50 years ago. The U.S. needs an open border policy. People want better lives and opportunities, and that's a great thing. No one chose where they were born, so I'm sick of the self-righteous racist and xenophobic attitude of most so-called "Americans." Actually immigrants are more patriotic than most of us. They come here because of the ideals the U.S. represents and for the liberties guaranteed in the Constitution while most "Americans" want those same rights destroyed. Immigrants are the ones running who truly run this country, yet they get no respect or appreciation for their hard work, courage, and sacrifice.

[Abner]

Here in Chicago, I know where the best place to go for the Fourth of July is... the Hispanic neighborhoods.

[Serenade]

Interestingly enough, the only immigrants this country accepted with open arms were slaves.

[JMancuso]

This fear of births to uneducated Latins is just nativism.

i call BS. the reason why it's an issue becuase they depend heavily on the system. we're having a tough time as it is handling our own more let alone take on millions more from mexico.

[LMich]

i call BS. the reason why it's an issue becuase they depend heavily on the system.

Proof? They depend more heavily on the system, per capita, than any other group?

[JMancuso]

Proof? They depend more heavily on the system, per capita, than any other group?

didn't say they depend on the system more than other groups but a large amount of latin-american immigrants (particularly of native decent) do depend on the system for their healthcare. walk into any county hospital or clinic in texas or the southwest and a large portion of those seeking treatment are immigrants from mexico and central america.

[KevinFromTexas]

"What's killing Japan and threatening the economic future of Europe is that they don't have enough kids, and that's what's depriving these rural areas in America."

That's true. It's really kind of staggering to see how many older people inhabit Austin's suburbs. Just casual news clips from those places have a majority of older people, most over 50 or 60 years old appearing on the news. There was a news clip talking about some city council action in one of our suburbs (I forget which), and most of the city council was made up of older people. Most of the people sitting in the audience were older, like in their 70s and even 80s. I immediately wondered what all the young people are doing there? This area is where Dell, Inc. is based, so a lot of the young people there work at Dell. Still, I wondered why no interest at all from younger people, even some 30 year old people would be younger than most.

Anyway, this new trend of people not having kids anymore is happening in the US also. My brother and his wife have one son, and they say they're finished. My cousin has one daughter, he told his mom, "This is it, you're not getting any more grandchildren." He himself is an only child. Another cousin of mine is just now pregnant with her first child, she's gotta be about 35, and this might end up being her last. Many of my other cousins are all in their mid and late 20s, even into their mid-30s, and none have any children. I don't either. Even my oldest cousin who is almost 50 now only has one child. He's 100 percent German though. His parents only had two kids, and his sister also only had two kids. Two of my uncles also never had kids and likely won't since both are single and in their 60s.

[LMich]

Anyway, back on subject, a fertility rate map for 2006

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Fertility_rate_world_map_2.png

[Evergrey]

ah... so this is what happened to this thread... banished to the obscurity of the United States subforum...