8 Diversity Indicators That Are Changing the USA

In preparation for the 2016 Population Association of America annual meeting, the Pew Research Center released some findings that showed how changing demographics are reshaping the nation.

Demographics
By the year 2055, the USA will not have one single racial or ethnic majority. Driving this trend is increased immigration from Latin America and Asia. Despite the anti-immigrant and refugee rhetoric coming out of the 2016 Presidential Primaries, most people from the USA think immigration is a good thing for the country.

Move Over, Hispanics
Asia has surpassed Latin American and Mexico as the largest source of new immigrants migrating into the USA. From 2009-2014, more Mexicans left the country as entered. What does that say about building a wall along the Mexico-USA border?

Voting Blocs
For the upcoming 2016 elections, the people going to the polls will be the most diverse group of voters in USA history. How will this play out in Republican get out the vote efforts that historically rely heavily on white votes?

Move Over, Baby Boomers
Millennials will continue their influence on societal norms as the biggest generation. How will the most diverse and educated generation impact the 2016 elections?

Women Flex their Muscles
Women enhanced their numbers in the workforce, headed more households and shortened the gender gap for pay. They increased their hold on leadership positions in the workplace although men still dominate this sector. Forty percent of the USA think women are held to a double standard in comparison to men. The same percentage feels that women will continue to hit their heads on the glass ceiling in the future.

From Full House to Empty House
The notion of family is changing in the USA. Marriage rates are down, two-parent households are dwindling, and divorce, cohabitation and remarriage are on the upswing. Seventeen percent of all children in the USA are in blended families. Despite these trends, 51% of the USA feels like a woman’s place is in the home.

Where Did the Middle Class Go?
For the first time in 40 years, the middle class was not the country’s economic majority. The gap between middle income and upper income families has expanded. The majority of the USA population thinks the federal government does not do enough for middle class families.

Christianity Continues to Slip
The religiously unaffiliated make up 23% of the USA’s adult population. 35% of that number is driven by Millennials. 72% of the USA claim religion is losing it influence on public affairs.

We are poorer, we are darker and we are more secular. At the end of the day, we are more divided. The more things change the more things stay the same.