A new demographic study of the U.S. shows deaths are outpacing births among white people in more than half the country's states, including North Carolina.
The term for this is known as “natural decrease,” and when it comes to the nation's white population, the natural decrease areas are clustered in the South, West, and Northeast.
A new analysis of U.S. Census data released this month suggest a number of powerful factors are coming together to make this happen. For example, in many states, the white population is getting older. And the Great Recession seems to have caused a decrease in the white fertility rate.
The report's co-authors also say the shift is happening much faster than they thought.
But the natural decrease among the white population does not hold true for the population overall. In fact, while more than half of states saw such a shift among whites, only three states saw a decrease in their overall population.
If the trend holds, the U.S. will likely continue to become less white – and more diverse – with white people making up less than half the nation's population by 2050.