by Richard Fry, Senior Research Associate, Pew Hispanic Center, and Jeffrey S. Passel, Senior Demographer, Pew Hispanic Center
Hispanics now make up 22% of all children under the age of 18 in the United States–up from 9% in 1980–and as their numbers have grown, their demographic profile has changed.
A majority (52%) of the nation’s 16 million [...]

By JOSE DE LA ISLA

Bears evidently get tooth decay from eating honey. Humans also get cavities from eating too much sugar. Bears and humans are the only ones in the animal kingdom with this similarity.

The comparison comes to mind after the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the Senate Finance Committee on May13 to adopt a tax on non-diet soda drinks. The group also included alcoholic beverages as a source for funding expanded healthcare coverage.

Former president Bill Clinton, a champion of controlling childhood obesity, was quick to respond. “I think the better thing to do is to give incentives right across the board for prevention and wellness,” he told ABC News two days later. Clinton’s Alliance for a Healthier Generation has worked with beverage makers to reduce the caloric content of drinks sold in school vending machines.

Dr. Michael Jacobson, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, calls soft drinks major contributors to obesity in recent decades. In turn, obesity is a major cause of diabetes, hypertension, strokes, heart attacks and cancer. That is the underlying rationale for asking Congress to impose a new excise tax on non-diet soft drinks, both carbonated and non-carbonated.

The science is on the side of the tax.

On the day prior to the testimony unnamed Senate aides told the Wall Street Journal that key lawmakers were weighing the idea behind closed doors. The Congressional Budget Office has estimated such a tax could yield as much as $24 billion in the next four years to help pay for broad, expanded health insurance.

It’s not hard to anticipate that the beverage industry and groups that ritually demonize the word “tax” will oppose the idea. Yet, it seems, on the face of it, feelings run disproportionately high over simple products like flavored water. How can something that tastes so good be so bad?

Last September, Donna Maldonado-Schullo reported in Al Día of Philadelphia on a Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) report that one soda a day can add up to 15 pounds of weight gain in a year. Of the foods we commonly consume, soda is responsible for the largest percentage of calories. Sodas contain large amounts of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) used as a sweetener, increasing the risk of obesity and diabetes.

Children are particularly vulnerable because HFCS has high levels of reactive compounds that cause tissue damage, which in turn can lead to diabetes.

Soft drinks with HFCS have high levels of reactive carbonyls, a compound associated with “unbound” fructose and glucose molecules believed to damage tissue. In contrast, common table sugar is “bound” and chemically “stable.”

That is not to say that sugar consumption is particularly benign, either. A hundred years ago, the average person consumed roughly five pounds a year. About 20 years ago, consumption rose to 20 pounds. Now it’s 135 pounds.

Literally, innutritious eating and drinking has become a health concern. High sugar content in diets leads to metabolic syndrome — the co-incidence of high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes.

According to the National Institutes of Heath, 65 percent of diabetics will die of heart attacks or stroke. They report 10.4 percent of Hispanics have already been diagnosed with diabetes. Alarmingly, for those 50 or older the rate reaches 25 to 30 percent.

Meanwhile, as U.S. population percentages continue to decline among all children, evidence suggests that producers like Cadbury Schweppes look for market growth by expanding and intensifying marketing efforts directed toward Hispanic youth.

This “low hanging fruit,” as one trade journal referred to the Hispanic market, at least called them something nutritious. They could have called them big sweet-tooth bears.

Source: The Times Herald

By JOSE DE LA ISLA
Bears evidently get tooth decay from eating honey. Humans also get cavities from eating too much sugar. Bears and humans are the only ones in the animal kingdom with this similarity.
The comparison comes to mind after the Center for Science in the Public Interest urged the Senate Finance Committee on May13 [...]

by Associated Press 

Two major retail chains looking to cash in on Spanish speakers are opening stores in Tucson – demonstrating the growing buying power of Hispanics, even during tough economic times.

El Super, a Los Angeles-based grocer, and La Curacao, an electronics and appliance retailer that styles its stores to resemble Mayan and Aztec pyramids, are setting up at the Southgate Shopping Center.

El Super, owned by privately held Bodega Latina Corp., had its grand opening Wednesday, said its president and CEO, Carlos Smith.

La Curacao, also L.A.-based, plans to open by August.

Both retailers target consumers who are most comfortable doing business in Spanish. Same plaza no coincidence

It’s not a coincidence that El Super and La Curacao decided to move into the same plaza, said Carlos Garcia of Garcia Research in Los Angeles.

“Business attracts business,” said Garcia, who’s done market research for both companies in the past.

Hispanic consumers have large families and strong social networks, Garcia said. They spend more money at grocery stores, but they’re drawn more toward staples than prepackaged foods, he said.

They are also looking to stretch every dollar.

“They’re very vulnerable to the recession, but their social structure allows them to survive,” Garcia said.

And their numbers are growing.

Pima County’s share of residents who say they are Hispanic rose from 29.3 percent in 2000 to more than 33 percent now, the U.S. Census Bureau says. The rate of change could soon accelerate, as many Hispanics are younger than 5, the data show.

The Hispanic population has emerged as a powerful force among retailers because it’s young, said Maricela Solis de Kester, president of the Tucson Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Hispanics, like all other segments of the population, have cut back on discretionary spending, but young families still need groceries, she said.

“We have to spend the money, especially on the very basics and necessities, compared to non-Hispanic communities whose children are older and out of the house,” de Kester said. “It’s a different purchase power.”

Now is the right time for any business – whether or not it targets Spanish speakers – to expand if it has the financial backing to do so, said Greg Furrier, a principal with Picor Commercial Real Estate Services in Tucson.

Rents are low and property owners are willing to offer lucrative deals to entice tenants to commercial developments, he said.

Even businesses that target the growing demographic aren’t immune to the recession, however. La Curacao pushed back its opening to weather the rough economy, said Nancy McClure, a first vice president with CB Richard Ellis in Tucson. The company had originally announced a fall 2008 opening.

McClure, who brokered the Southgate deal for La Curacao, said the company began the process of moving to Tucson more than two years ago and selected Southgate – though it was quite run down at the time – because it’s in the heart of the Hispanic community.

El Super made the decision to move to Tucson before the recession, said Smith, and the economic turbulence wasn’t going to stop those plans.

Bodega Latina has 15 locations in California and one in Phoenix. The company has plans to expand in Arizona, California and Nevada through the next year.

“El Super’s primary target market is the Hispanic consumer,” Smith said in an e-mail. “And similar to the Phoenix market, we believe the Tucson market presents an opportunity for us, given its demographic composition.”

All signage in the store is in Spanish and English. The company has already hired the 130 to 140 employees needed to staff the store, Smith said.

For its storefront, El Super razed an existing building at Southgate, which had fallen into disrepair, and started from the ground up.

The center has undergone a $41 million renovation to attract new tenants. Now, a bbb! Fashion store is at the center and _ in addition to La Curacao – Subway, Oasis Insurance and On Net Wireless have signed deals to move in, said Dave Hammack, a senior associate with Volk Co.

The supermarket’s opening is welcome news for Spanish-speaking consumers looking for Mexican products. Although they are bilingual, Juan and Margarita Cisneros said they feel more comfortable being assisted in Spanish.

“This is what we needed. We shop for groceries almost every day and it’s better if it is in Spanish,” Juan Cisneros said. “We interact better with Spanish-speaking employees at the store. It is part of our roots.”

The couple, who shop at Food City regularly, said the opening of El Super is good because it will increase competition and, they hope, drive down prices.

“When they opened in Phoenix, it affected all the stores in that area,” said Edgar Cuevas, who works with both stores as a wholesale distributor in Tucson for Mojave Foods. “When people hear about a new place like El Super that is targeting people with fresh food and products, people just go.”

For many, the store’s name is a household word. “El Super” in Spanish is a general phrase for supermarket, and Bodega Latina capitalized on that when selecting the name.

“My mom never said, ‘Let’s go to Bashas’, let’s go to Costco,’ or something like that,” Cuevas said. “She used to say, ‘Let’s go to El Super.’ “

Bashas’ Inc., which owns Food City, doesn’t comment on its competition, company spokeswoman Kristy Nied said.

But she did acknowledge that both stores share the same demographic. “Our core customer for Food City is Hispanic families,” she said.

With the downturn in the economy and more families looking for bargain prices, Food City has ratcheted up its marketing toward English speakers, too.

“It’s been a solid niche for us in terms of serving the needs of the community,” she said.

De Kester, of the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, also downplayed the impact El Super will have on local grocers, including carniceria meat markets. If Hispanic families love a certain place, she said, they’ll keep going.

“As a population,” she said, “we tend to be very loyal.”

by Associated Press 
Two major retail chains looking to cash in on Spanish speakers are opening stores in Tucson – demonstrating the growing buying power of Hispanics, even during tough economic times.
El Super, a Los Angeles-based grocer, and La Curacao, an electronics and appliance retailer that styles its stores to resemble Mayan and Aztec pyramids, are [...]

YANKELOVICH

As ethnic populations continue to grow in size, buying power and political influence, more and more marketers are beginning or increasing their multicultural marketing efforts. Nevertheless, some marketers worry that ethnic marketing may make Non-Hispanic White consumers feel alienated and ignored or that it will take dollars away from general marketing, resulting in a zero-sum gain (or worse). But this year’s Yankelovich Multicultural Marketing Study (MMS) found that many Non-Hispanic White consumers value multicultural marketing and outreach. This week’s MONITOR Minute looks at this segment of the Non-Hispanic White population and explores what makes them so valuable for any brand or company.

Multiculturalism: Beyond Tolerance and Expectation

Over the past few decades, openness to diversity has grown significantly among the general population, and many consumers expect marketers to mirror this openness. For some consumers, though, acceptance and inclusion are no longer enough. Some consumers are looking for brands to put themselves out on a limb to proactively support ethnic consumers and the issues that matter most to them—even when those issues are controversial in nature. The fact that this is the case among a significant portion of African-American and Hispanic consumers is of little surprise. What may be surprising is the fact that nearly half (47%) of Non-Hispanic White consumers also feel this way (see first sidebar). We view these Non-Hispanic White consumers as the more passionate subset of a larger group of Non-Hispanic White consumers for whom multicultural outreach and marketing have a neutral to positive effect on the way a brand or company is perceived. In effect, they are a crossover market that should be considered when undertaking any cost-benefit analysis of multicultural marketing programs—especially those that address new-product rollouts and/or socially responsible programs and messaging.

Responsible Consumers with a Trendsetter Mindset

Multicultural Outreach Allies have a strong desire to advance their principles, along with a greater interest—compared with other Non-Hispanic Whites—in new products, services and ideas. In addition to wanting brands to support ethnic consumers and communities, these consumers (like many ethnic consumers) prefer brands that tackle myriad social issues and concerns—from poverty and domestic violence to health awareness and the environment. In terms of a trendsetting mindset, 53% say, “I am usually one of the first people in my group of friends to accept new ideas or try new things,” and 40% say, “I like taking the risk of being one of the first people to try a new product or service” (compared to 40% and 28% of other Non-Hispanic White consumers, respectively). Of course, the flip side is that these consumers penalize those who act in ways that are not aligned with their values—over the course of the last year, one-third of this segment stopped buying from companies they felt had acted unethically.

Implications & Opportunities

Do not think of general marketing and multicultural marketing as an “either/or” choice. Remember that multicultural marketing is not desired or consumed only by multicultural consumers. Using general marketing and multicultural marketing in complementary ways across both mainstream and ethnic venues sends a strong message to all consumers that your company and brand(s) value multiculturalism. In terms of Multicultural Outreach Allies specifically, showcasing your multicultural efforts is a way to forge a deeper and longer-lasting relationship with a group of consumers who are eager to try new products and services.

Reevaluate placement of advertising developed “solely” for multicultural markets. In addition to gaining visibility among Non-Hispanic White Multicultural Outreach Allies, addressing cultural issues in general-market media (which many—if not most—ethnic consumers also consume) sends a message of true commitment to ethnic consumers. In other words, ignoring multicultural consumers and their concerns in your general consumer messaging —even if you are “speaking” to them in targeted media—shows a lack of authenticity and may lead ethnic consumers to conclude that your efforts are merely attempts to appeal to their hearts without making a deep commitment to their needs and their communities.

Integrate socially responsible behavior into every aspect of your business in general. Social responsibility and marketplace ethics are not a marketing platform or a selling proposition—they are a business fundamental and must be integrated into the fabric of an organization. And a large swath of the Non-Hispanic White population (including, but not limited to Multicultural Outreach Allies) values the same kinds of pro-social efforts as African-American and Hispanic consumers do. Identifying disconnects among marketing operations, socially responsible actions and your corporate vision and values is vital.

Bottom Line

While the main point of multicultural marketing is to generate a deep and genuine connection with ethnic consumers, marketers need to note the large portion of Non-Hispanic White consumers who are watching marketers’ willingness to stand up for, and invest in, ethnic communities. Multicultural marketing does not attract just a minority of the population; it actually attracts the majority. Marketers who support these Non-Hispanic Whites’ desire to shop responsibly and consciously will align themselves with a group of consumers who are hungry and yearning for the latest and greatest information, experiences and product innovation. 

MONITOR Resources

Yankelovich Multicultural Marketing Study 2009
MONITOR Minute: “The Art of Inclusion,” 04.07.08
MONITOR Minute: “Meet the People,” 05.19.08
Yankelovich Y* Report: “Conscience at the Cash Register,” 2007

Sources

“Will the Recession Put Multicultural and General Market on a Level Playing Field?” AdAge.com, 04.20.09

“Don’t Bypass African Americans,” AdAge.com, 02.02.09

YANKELOVICH

As ethnic populations continue to grow in size, buying power and political influence, more and more marketers are beginning or increasing their multicultural marketing efforts. Nevertheless, some marketers worry that ethnic marketing may make Non-Hispanic White consumers feel alienated and ignored or that it will take dollars away from general marketing, resulting in a zero-sum [...]

By Raphael J. Sonenshein

Many years ago, a conservative commentator, frustrated that Jews continued to vote largely for Democrats, said it best: “Jews live like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.” That sentence nicely captures the odd fact that Jews and Latinos, often quite different in their socioeconomic positions, have much in common politically.

Jews are among the most affluent and best educated Americans. Even though there are many working-class Jews, the bulk of the community is middle class, and Jews are disproportionately represented in professional occupations, including law, media, medicine and teaching.

Latinos are a vast community, growing in numbers and influence. While Latinos are making impressive educational strides in each generation, they continue to have a large working class, with great aspirations for upward mobility. In their daily lives, Latinos and Jews live in somewhat different worlds, and opportunities for interaction on an equal basis are not widespread.

And yet the evidence of political affinity is very strong. Both groups have been loyal Democrats. Jews have maintained their Democratic identification, while, if anything, Latinos have become increasingly Democratic as more and more of their community register to vote. Most recently, despite predictions that they would not vote for an African American candidate for president, both groups gave overwhelming support to Barack Obama, Jews by 78 percent and Latinos by 67 percent. With their help, Obama carried the state of Florida for the Democratic ticket.

Perhaps this political affinity stems from the fact that Jews, like Latinos, share roots as immigrant communities that, at times, faced discrimination for being in the minority.  Latinos and Jews have traditionally supported ballot measures that protect public services and oppose measures that discriminate against racial and ethnic minorities. Among whites, Jews were the only group to oppose Proposition 187 by a majority vote. In 1997, when Los Angeles voters passed the largest school funding measure in history, the two main blocs of support were Latinos and Jews.

But Latinos and Jews are not identical on all political issues. Jews are one of the most liberal groups in the nation on such social issues as abortion, gay rights, and stem cell research. Latinos tend to be more conservative on these issues, as shown by the divergence between the two groups on Proposition 8 concerning gay marriage this past fall. Latinos are extremely strong on economic issues affecting working class communities and represent a pillar of progressive politics on minimum wage and other such issues. Jews, too, are certainly liberal on these issues, but perhaps not as strongly committed to them as Latinos. So while the groups overlap, they will not always have the same priorities.

What is striking today is that despite their political affinity, the two groups are not very familiar with one another. Most likely, to many Latinos, Jews seem no different from other whites, and the wide differences between Jews and non-Jewish whites on political issues may not be recognized. Jews may not have a full understanding of the growing impact of the Latino community in politics, nor an understanding of how socioeconomic differences may obstruct getting to know each other.

When relationships are forged among equals, great coalitions are possible. This is how Jews and African Americans forged their historic coalition behind Tom Bradley. As Jews and Latinos observe and learn about one another, perhaps a new sort of relationship can be built between one established but progressive group, and another dynamic, diverse and emerging political community.

Source: Jewish Journal

By Raphael J. Sonenshein
Many years ago, a conservative commentator, frustrated that Jews continued to vote largely for Democrats, said it best: “Jews live like Episcopalians and vote like Puerto Ricans.” That sentence nicely captures the odd fact that Jews and Latinos, often quite different in their socioeconomic positions, have much in common politically.
Jews are among [...]

By Terry Munoz
As new demographic estimates become available, I make it a practice to review the similarities and differences between the new numbers and last year’s estimates. This time around, the significance that the role ethnic households will play in future growth struck me, specifically the Hispanic segment.
As we all know, immigration has driven and [...]

by Joseph Kutchera

Put yourself in the shoes of a bi-lingual or Spanish-preferring U.S. Hispanic and try searching in Spanish on Google, Yahoo or MSN and what do you find? A good portion of the results, sometimes approaching 50%, come from sites based in Mexico, Spain, and other Spanish-speaking countries. 

Let’s look at some examples I found recently on the first page of natural (not paid) results on Google.com:

1.    Vuelos a Nueva York (flights to New York): 9 out of 10 were foreign 

2.    Restaurantes en Los Angeles (restaurants in L.A.): 6 out of 11 were foreign

3.    Recetas mexicanas (Mexican recipes): 5 out of 10 were foreign

4.    Computadoras baratas (cheap computers): 6 out of 10 were foreign

5.    Globalization of Information and News

However surprising this may be, we need to look no further than Google’s corporate mission statement to see why this is the case: “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.” Google and other search engines index sites globally while we marketers, agencies and media sellers work within the economic and political borders of the U.S.

A search engine robot ranks results in each language by keyword ranking, the quality of the content and the number of sites that link to that site (with a possible preference to sites based within that country’s borders). So, when a Hispanic searches for a niche subject that a Hispanic publisher hasn’t provided in Spanish, where will a U.S. search engine send them? Wherever else in the world that content exists online in Spanish: Mexico, Spain, Argentina, etc.

Why is this happening?

In addition to the globalization of media, this highlights a number of trends in consumer behavior and lessons for U.S. Hispanics marketers: 

·      Spanish-language sites/pages based in the U.S. may not be optimized for search engines as well as sites in other countries where Spanish is the main language.

·      Many U.S. Hispanics search in Spanish and may prefer visiting sites from their country of origin, depending upon their level of acculturation.

·      Spanish-language markets that invest much more with local, Spanish-language online publishers, like Spain, are more likely to have content online and therefore appear more often in search results.

·      U.S. Hispanic advertisers have lagged behind in moving their budgets online and therefore have provided less of an incentive for U.S. Hispanic publishers to post a wide variety of content online.

Nevertheless, even though English reigns supreme as the most utilized language online, Spanish may catch up soon as computer prices continue to fall and publishers bring more content online. New Netbooks today, for example, cost around $150, making it much easier for Hispanics to check email, use the Internet and call their relatives via Skype or MSN. 

Solutions to this problem

The good news amidst this seismic change in consumer behavior is the opportunity that this presents to marketing professionals who are ready to try new and more sophisticated ways of marketing to U.S. Hispanics online. Here are some questions to ask yourself and your media partners for managing this issue: 

1.    Are you buying U.S.-only geo-targeted inventory on your search and banner buys? Or are allowing your publishing partners to serve those impressions wherever they have visitors across the globe?

2.    Is your Spanish-language site (or pages) optimized for search engines? 

3.    Are you reaching U.S. Hispanics on country-of-origin web sites through ad networks or exchanges as they land on content pages (once they’ve clicked on search engine results)?

4.    Are you applying additional layers of targeting like behavioral, contextual, or language targeting to further segment and understand your Hispanic audience online? 

5.     How does this consumer behavior with regards to search engines inform the way your brand reaches Spanish-language consumers online both domestically and globally?

by Joseph Kutchera
Put yourself in the shoes of a bi-lingual or Spanish-preferring U.S. Hispanic and try searching in Spanish on Google, Yahoo or MSN and what do you find? A good portion of the results, sometimes approaching 50%, come from sites based in Mexico, Spain, and other Spanish-speaking countries. 
Let’s look at some examples I found [...]

Estimates find nation’s population growing older, more diverse

Source: U.S. Census Bureau News

The U.S. Census Bureau today released national population estimates showing that our nation is becoming older and more racially and ethnically diverse. The estimates found that nearly half (47 percent) of the nation’s children younger than five were a minority in 2008, with 25 percent being Hispanic. For all children under 18, 44 percent were a minority and 22 percent were Hispanic.

“These estimates are a prelude to the information we will collect next year in the 2010 Census, giving us an accurate portrait of our nation at the national, state and local level,” said Census Bureau Acting Director Tom Mesenbourg.

The nation’s overall minority population on July 1, 2008, was 104.6 million, or 34 percent of the total population. Minorities, defined as any group other than single-race, non-Hispanic white, increased by 2.3 percent from 2007 to 2008.

The largest and fastest-growing minority group was Hispanics, who reached 46.9 million in 2008, up by 3.2 percent from 2007. In 2008, nearly one in six U.S. residents was Hispanic.

The Census Bureau estimates the number of Asians at 15.5 million in 2008. Asians were the second fastest-growing minority group from 2007 to 2008, increasing by 2.7 percent.

Following Asians in growth were Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders (increasing 2.4 percent to 1.1 million), American Indians and Alaska Natives (increasing 1.7 percent to 4.9 million) and blacks or African-Americans (increasing 1.3 percent to 41.1 million). The population of non-Hispanic whites who indicated no other race increased by 0.2 percent to 199.5 million.

There were 5.2 million people who were of two or more races in 2008, up 3.4 percent from 2007.

The U.S. population is not only becoming more racially and ethnically diverse, it is also growing older: the median age reached 36.8 in 2008, up 1.5 years since 2000. There were 38.9 million people 65 and older in 2008, comprising 12.8 percent of the total population. Of this group, 5.7 million were 85 years old and older. In 2000, 12.4 percent of the total population was 65 and older.

As the population ages, there are relatively more women than men. For those under age 18, 51.2 percent are male, but the percentage declines to 42.4 percent for the population age 65 and older and to just 32.6 percent for the population 85 and older. Women represent 50.7 percent of the total population.

The total number of children under age 5 was 21 million in 2008, or 6.9 percent of the total population, compared with 19.2 million and 6.8 percent in 2000.

The number of elementary school-age children (age 5 to 13) was 36 million (11.8 percent of the total population) in 2008, down 1.3 percentage points (1 million) from 2000. In contrast, the number of high school-age children (age 14 to 17) increased, from 16.1 million and 5.7 percent of the total population in 2000 to 16.9 million, or 5.6 percent of the total population, in 2008.

There were 191.2 million working-age adults (age 18 to 64) in 2008, representing 62.9 percent of the total population, an increase of 17.1 million and 1 percentage point from 2000.

Other highlights:

Hispanics

·       The Hispanic population is much younger than the population as a whole, with a median age of 27.7 years in 2008, compared with 36.8 for the total U.S. population.

·       Thirty-four percent of the Hispanic population was under 18 and 6 percent age 65 or older. The corresponding percentages for the total population were 24 percent and 13 percent.

Blacks

·       The median age for blacks was 30.3 in 2008.

·       About 30 percent of the black population was under age 18, while 8 percent was 65 or older.

Asians

·       The median age for Asians was 34.2 as of 2008.

·       Almost 26 percent of the Asian population was under age 18, while 9 percent was 65 or older.

American Indians and Alaska Natives

·       The median age for American Indians and Alaska Natives in 2008 was 29.7.

·       More than 30 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population was under 18, while 8 percent was 65 or older.

Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders

·       The median age for Native Hawaiians and Other Pacific Islanders was 27.7 in 2008.

·       Almost 34 percent of the Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander population was under 18, while 6 percent was 65 or older.

Non-Hispanic Single-Race White

·       The single-race, non-Hispanic white population was much older than the population as a whole, with a median age in 2008 of 41.1.

·       About 21 percent of the non-Hispanic single-race white population was under 18, while 16 percent was 65 or older.

Estimates find nation’s population growing older, more diverse
Source: U.S. Census Bureau News
 
The U.S. Census Bureau today released national population estimates showing that our nation is becoming older and more racially and ethnically diverse. The estimates found that nearly half (47 percent) of the nation’s children younger than five were a minority in 2008, with 25 [...]

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) – The nation is becoming even more diverse: More than one third of its population belongs to a minority group, and Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment.

Nearly one in six residents, or 46.9 million people, are Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported Thursday that the minority population reached an [...]

Mayberry Meets Mexico
NPR
March 6, 2009

Aunt Bee would have felt right at home in the Siler City of 1973. In fact, she was. The similarities between the fictional Mayberry and the very real Siler City were unmistakeable. The sleepy southern town was home to about 10,000 people, mostly white, some African American; many worked in the [...]