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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • FRIDAY, JUNE 23, 2017
Census: US more diverse, white population grows least
By LAURIE KELLMAN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The
United States is growing older
and more ethnically diverse,
a trend that could strain gov-
ernment programs from Medi-
care to education, the Census
Bureau reported Thursday.
Every ethnic and racial
group grew between 2015
and 2016, but the number of
whites continued to increase
at the slowest rate — less than
one hundredth of 1 percent,
or 5,000 people, the Census
estimate shows. That’s a frac-
tion of the rates of growth for
non-white Hispanics, Asians
and people who said they are
multi-racial, according to the
government’s annual estimates
of population.
President Donald Trump’s
core support in the racially divi-
sive 2016 election came from
white voters, and polls showed
that it was especially strong
among those who said they felt
left behind in an increasingly
racially diverse country. In fact,
the Census Bureau projects
whites will remain in the major-
ity in the U.S. until after 2040.
“Even then, (whites) will
still represent the nation’s larg-
est plurality of people, and
even then they will still inherit
the structural advantages and
legacies that benefit people
on the basis of having white
skin,” said Justin Gest, author
of “The New Minority,” a
book about the 2016 election.
An aging nation
The Census Bureau reported
that the median age of Ameri-
cans — the age at which half
are older and half are younger
— rose nationally from just
over 35 years to nearly 38 years
in the years between 2000 and
2016, driven by the aging of
the “baby boom” generation.
The number of residents
age 65 and older grew from 35
million to 49.2 million during
those 16 years, jumping from
12 percent of the total popula-
tion to 15 percent.
That’s a costly leap for
taxpayers as those residents
move to Medicare, govern-
ment health care for seniors
and younger people with dis-
abilities, which accounted for
$1 out of every $7 in federal
spending last year, according
to the Kaiser Family Foun-
dation. By 2027, it will cost
$1 out of every $6 of federal
money spent. Net Medicare
AP Photo/Gregory Bull
Duncan Wallace drives a golf cart from his house to his
golf club as a group of landscape workers take a break
in Vista, Calif., in 2016. The United States is growing old-
er and more ethnically diverse, a trend that is could put
strains on government programs from Medicare to educa-
tion, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
spending is expected to nearly
double over the next decade,
from $592 billion to $1.2 tril-
lion, the KFF reported.
Sumter County, Florida,
home of The Villages, a large
retirement community, had the
highest median age increase,
rising from 49 years old in
2000 to 67 years old in 2016.
Over that time period, 56 U.S.
counties showed a median age
increase of 10 years or more.
on taxpayers for schools, bilin-
gual education and accommo-
dations for English language
learners, as well as recruit-
ing a corps of educators that
reflects the nation’s students.
Robert Hull, executive vice
president of the National Asso-
ciation of State Boards of Edu-
cation, said a majority of stu-
dents in the U.S. are not white,
but that 82 percent of teachers
are white.
“It’s not just the services
offered or what we do for the
students but who is delivering
those services,” Hull said.
The number of English lan-
guage learners in U.S. public
schools was about 4.6 million
in the 2014-2015 school year,
according to the National Cen-
ter for Education Statistics.
Boom in young people
Face of a nation
The Census report also
showed that children in the
U.S. born from 2001 through
2016 were the nation’s fast-
est-growing age group, with
a 6.8 percent jump in the year
beginning July 1, 2015. Other
age groups either lost or gained
population by less than a per-
centage point, according to the
Census Bureau.
That means more demand
All race and ethnic groups
grew in the year before July 1,
2016, the Census reported.
The Asian population and
those who identified as being
of two or more races grew by
3 percent each, to 21 million
and 8.5 million, respectively.
Hispanics grew by 2 percent
to 57.5 million. The black pop-
ulation grew by 1.2 percent to
nearly 47 million.
The number of non-His-
panic whites grew by only
5,000, leaving that population
relatively steady at 198 mil-
lion of the nation’s 325 million
people.
A Pew Research Center
analysis of the Census’ cur-
rent population survey found
that white turnout increased in
the 2016 election, while black
turnout dropped and the non-
white share of the U.S. elec-
torate remained flat compared
with the 2012 election.
“Any sort of impact on pol-
itics may be several decades in
the future,” said Mark Hugo
Lopez, director of Hispanic
research for the Pew Research
Center.
California had both the
largest number of whites and
non-white Hispanics in 2016,
30 million and 15.3 million,
respectively.
Texas had the largest
numeric increase in both the
white and non-white Hispanic
populations.
As for the share of a state’s
overall population, New Mex-
ico had the highest percentage
of nonwhite Hispanics at 48.5
percent. Maine had the largest
percentage of whites, nearly
97 percent.
Summer vacation: Never mind
the hike. Where’s the hammock?
ents, 87 percent vacation with
their kids. Three-fourths of
vacationing parents will drive
rather than fly.
Most vacationers, mar-
ried or not, travel with others.
Overall, 68 percent will travel
with a spouse or significant
other and 49 percent will travel
with other relatives or friends.
Just 14 percent of vacationers
will travel solo, including
about a quarter of unmarried
travelers.
Sixty-one percent of vaca-
tioners say they’ll drive, 31
percent will fly and 4 percent
will cruise. Another 1 percent
will go by train, 2 percent by
bus.
By EMILY SWANSON
and BETH J. HARPAZ
Associated Press
Never mind the hike.
Where’s the hammock?
A new poll about summer
travel finds that the No. 1 thing
Americans want to do on vaca-
tion is ... nothing.
Almost three-fourths of
Americans say resting and
relaxing is very or extremely
important to them when they
go on vacation, according to
the survey from The Associ-
ated Press-NORC Center for
Public Affairs Research.
Among those dreaming
about kicking back is Yari
Blanco of Brooklyn, New
York, who recently tweeted,
“Your girl needs a vacation.
The kind where you lay by a
crystal blue beach and nap in
a hammock.” Blanco, who’s
been busy working on a web-
site she recently launched
called TheGirlMob, hopes to
squeeze in some relaxation
time in July and maybe a trip
later this year to Portugal.
Staycations and
unplugging
Interestingly, most Amer-
icans say staying home and
doing nothing isn’t ideal.
Instead, they want a change of
scenery. Of those who plan a
summer vacation, 92 percent
are going away and only 8 per-
cent are making it a staycation.
More than half of those polled
said relaxing at home doesn’t
count as a real vacation.
How about unplugging?
Only 22 percent “com-
pletely disconnect” while on
vacation. A third don’t even
try to get away from the inter-
net and social media. Some of
those surveyed — 42 percent
— say they dial back their time
online a little.
Americans under 30 are the
most plugged in. Just 13 per-
cent say they’re likely to com-
pletely disconnect on vacation.
But most Americans do
avoid working on vacation.
Sixty percent of workers say
they don’t check in with work
at all when they’re on vaca-
tion, while 32 percent say they
work or check in with work a
little. Eight percent may fall
into the workaholic category:
They work or check in with the
office “a lot.”
The term “bleisure” has
been a buzzword recently in
the travel industry, describing
a combination of business and
leisure travel. But most Amer-
icans (69 percent) don’t con-
sider extending a business trip
to be a real vacation.
Time versus money
Carl Juste/Miami Herald
Kristiina Nurk, 34, enjoys a good book underneath the
blue summer-like skies and weather as she vacations in
Miami for a second day while on holiday in May. A new
survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Pub-
lic Affairs Research found that resting and relaxing is
very or extremely important to three-fourths of Americans
while on vacation.
Shopping is more popular with
women than men (22 percent
versus 9 percent), and women
also prioritize sightseeing (60
percent versus 49 percent) and
visiting family (52 percent ver-
sus 40 percent) more than men.
Airline regulations
Many Americans support
more government regulations
on airlines — perhaps a logical
response to recent headlines
over passengers being hauled
off flights in disputes with air-
line staff. Six in 10 respon-
dents want the government
to regulate airline policies
for bumping passengers and
handling overbooked flights.
Nearly half would like to see
more regulation regarding
flight delays and cancellations.
Shiva Rajagopal of Fort
Lee, New Jersey, is among
those supporting regulations
to bar airlines from forcing
people off flights. “I’ve had
a couple of bad experiences
being bumped out of flights,”
he said. Airlines shouldn’t be
able to do it “no matter what
the compensation is,” he said,
because sometimes “you have
to be in a particular place at a
particular time.”
Traveling companions
The stereotypical image of
families piling into a car for a
summer trip isn’t too far from
reality. Among married cou-
ples, 87 percent vacation with
their spouses. Among par-
Half of the public expects
to spend less than $1,000 for
their summer holiday and half
anticipate laying out more.
Time is the luxury most
people desire. Nearly two-
thirds of Americans would
prefer a less extravagant vaca-
tion but longer vacation.
Lodging
For
accommodations,
hotels and motels are most
popular, used by 45 percent of
summer vacationers. Another
22 percent will stay with
friends or relatives. Rentals of
homes, condos or apartments
were the choice of 17 percent,
while 9 percent will sleep in a
tent, cabin or RV.
Non-vacationers
The poll also found, in
results released previously,
that 43 percent of Americans
won’t take a summer vacation,
with 49 percent of non-vaca-
tioners saying they can’t afford
it. Another 11 percent said they
can’t take time off from work,
while 3 percent said they don’t
like to be away from work.
The survey also found that 41
percent of working Americans
do not get paid vacation time
from their employers.
Online: http://www.apnorc.
org/
AP Photo/Ed Andrieski
A rack of rifles at Firing-Line gun store in Aurora, Colo.
A new survey by the Pew Research Center shows
Americans have grown more divided over gun issues.
Americans and guns:
It’s complicated
By LISA MARIE PANE
Associated Press
ATLANTA — Americans
have long had a complex
relationship with guns.
Now, a new study shows
that the country’s deep polit-
ical divide is reflected in atti-
tudes toward gun control.
The Pew survey released
Thursday found a sharp
drop in overall support for
gun control despite common
ground on some key issues.
For example, when peo-
ple were asked whether it
was more important to pro-
tect gun rights or control
gun ownership, 51 percent
favored gun control and 47
percent favored gun rights.
Compare that with responses
in 2000, when two-thirds of
those surveyed said they sup-
ported gun control measures.
People in the new sur-
vey were in broad agreement
when asked about specific
gun control measures.
Some 89 percent sup-
ported preventing the men-
tally ill from buying guns and
84 percent of all adults sup-
ported background checks
for private sales and at gun
shows.
Barring gun purchases for
people on no-fly lists won sup-
port from 83 percent, while 71
percent of adults, including a
small majority of gun owners,
supported a federal database
tracking gun sales.
The survey showed wide
disparities in how people
view firearms along political,
gender, racial and geographic
lines. The gaps come at the
start of President Donald
Trump’s term. He is seen as
one of the most gun-friendly
presidents and could be sup-
ported by a GOP-controlled
Congress, although there
has been little action on gun
issues since January.
About half of the public
said making it more difficult
to purchase a firearm would
mean fewer mass shootings,
while a little over one-third
said it would have no impact.
Most people attribute gun
violence to the ease in ille-
gally getting access to a fire-
arm, and the public can’t
decide whether making it
easier to legally purchase a
firearm would lower or raise
the crime rate.
Republicans have made
the most significant shifts
on guns while Democrats
have remained consistent in
their views, said Kim Parker,
Pew’s director of social
trends research.
“This reflects that the issue
has really become more polar-
ized, more driven by partisan
attitudes,” Parker said.
The study also showed that
people in the United States,
whether they own a firearm
or not, have broad exposure
to guns. At least two-thirds
have lived in a household
with guns and about 70 per-
cent have fired a gun.
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Top vacation activities
Sightseeing was ranked
important by 55 percent of
those surveyed, followed by
experiencing local culture and
cuisine (51 percent), visiting
family (46 percent) and spend-
ing time in nature (45 percent).
But there’s a gender gap.
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