Health USA Population

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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Population characteristics - National Center for Health Statistics

Important changes in the U.S. population will shape future efforts to improve health and health care. Two major changes in the demographic characteristics of the U.S. population are the growth of the older population and the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of the Nation.

From 1950 to 2000 the proportion of the population age 65 years and over rose from 8 to 12 percent. By 2050 it is projected that one in five Americans will be 65 years of age or over.

The racial and ethnic composition of the Nation has changed over time. The Hispanic population and the Asian and Pacific Islander population have grown more rapidly than other racial and ethnic groups in recent decades.

In 2000 more than 12 percent of the U.S. population identified themselves as Hispanic and 4 percent as Asian or Pacific Islander.

In 2001 the overall percent of Americans living in poverty was 11.7 percent, up from 11.3 percent in 2000, the first increase in the poverty rate since 1993.

In 2001 more than one-half of black and Hispanic children under 18 years and more than one-half of the black and Hispanic population age 65 years and over were either poor or near poor.

Fertility Birth rates for teens continued their steady decline while birth rates for women 30-44 years of age increased in 2001.

The birth rate for teenagers declined for the 10th consecutive year in 2001, to 45.3 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19 years, the lowest rate in more than six decades.

The birth rate for 15-17 year olds in 2001 was 34 percent lower than in 1990, and the birth rate for older teens 18-19 years of age was 14 percent lower than the rate in 1990.

In 2001 the fertility rate for Hispanic women (96.0 births per 1,000 Hispanic women 15-44 years) was 66 percent higher than for non-Hispanic white women (57.7 per 1,000).

Between 1995 and 2001 the birth rate for unmarried women was relatively stable, about 44-45 births per 1,000 unmarried women ages 15-44 years.

The birth rate for unmarried black women declined steadily over the past decade to 70.1 per 1,000 in 2001, and the birth rate for unmarried Hispanic women increased for the third year in a row to 98.0 per 1,000.

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