Fast Growing
Children of immigrants accounted for 22% of all children and are the fastest growing segment of the population under age 18.
This report looks at children of immigrants through a demographic lens, based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s decennial census, population estimates, and the American Community Survey (ACS). The first part of the report focuses on the role of immigrant families in transforming the race/ethnic composition of the U.S. population. The second part of the report addresses the key social and economic challenges facing children in immigrant families.
With the end of the U.S. baby boom in 1965 and the U.S. Immigration and Nationality Act passed in the same year, the numbers of immigrants entering the U.S. have risen dramatically. These immigrants tend to have higher fertility rates than the U.S.-born population, creating a surge in the number of immigrant youth and a new demographic path. There are more than 16 million children living in America’s immigrant families, majority of who, are U.S. citizens, born in the U.S. to foreign-born parents. They are the fastest-growing segment of America’s youth.