Census: Multiracial numbers up sharply
New data shows decline in Connecticut’s white population over decade
With the white population declining in Connecticut and around the nation, newly released U.S. Census figures show historic growth among people who identify as multiracial.
“Our analysis of the 2020 census results show that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more racially and ethnically diverse than what we measured in the past,’’ Nicholas Jones, director of race and ethnic research and outreach for the population division of the U.S. Census Bureau said during a teleconference with reporters on Thursday, the date the data was released.
Nearly 10% of the U.S. population, or 34 million people, said they were more than one race, an increase of 276% from the 2010 census. Demographers and sociologists attribute the trend to several factors, including an increase in multiracial families and a greater freedom to chose one’s identity.
At the same time, the percentage of people who identify as white dropped from 64% of the population to 58%.
“For the first time in U.S. history, the white population has declined,” said Matthew W. Hughey, a professor of sociology at UConn who studies the social dimensions of race. “That’s a big part of this story as well. The white population is aging and their birthrate is declining.”
The data from Connecticut
shows a similar trend: the white population dropped from 77% in 2010 to 66% in 2020.
At the same time, the number of people who identify as multiracial grew from 59,505 in 2010 to 137,569 in 2020, a 131% increase.
The demographic shift is largely driven by age, said Mark Abraham, executive director of DataHaven, a nonprofit group that collects and analyzes data about Connecticut and its communities.
“The average adult in Connecticut is almost 50,” Abraham said. “They’re not of child-bearing age anymore. The white population tends to be older and the groups that are driving the increase are Asians and Latinos and they tend to be younger in their 20s and 30s ... and of child-bearing age.”
In addition to providing an important demographic snapshot, the census data released Thursday has several practical uses. Billions of dollars in federal money is dispersed based on population. Also, the numbers are essential to the redistricting process to ensure congressional and legislative districts are drawn fairly.
The census both “measures and manufactures race,” Hughey said. The first census, completed in 1790 contained just three racial categories: free white males and females, “all other free persons,” and enslaved people. Later, census takers recorded the race of the people they counted.
By 1960, Americans could self-identify their race and in 2000 the bureau added a box for more than one racial category to the census form.
That first year, about 2.4% of the U.S. population, roughly 7 million people, identified as multiracial. By 2010, the number had edged up to 2.9% of the population, or about 9 million people.
It jumped dramatically this year, a trend driven largely by Hispanics, who can be of any race. In 2010, 6% of Hispanics identified as multiracial; by last year, the number had climbed to 33%.
“A big part of that is how Hispanics/Latinos are identifying given that they’re not counted as a race in the census,” Hughey said. “So does this way of checking more than one box give people a sense of identifying their Latino/Hispanic-ness as ‘racial?’ ‘’
The increase in Americans identifying as multiracial could signal a general wariness with the social constructs of race, Hughey said. He noted that number of census respondents choosing “some other race” also increased.
“Given the decline of the white-[alone] self-identification demographic, and given the political currency about race and debates about race and racial equality and racism, people may be showing dissatisfaction with racial labels overall, on top of the fact there are more choices,” he said.