Among the major racial and ethnic groups in the United States, Hispanics represent the younger blood in the country, thanks largely to the Latino youth of Mexican origin, a study released by the Pew Research Center said.
About a third of U.S. Hispanics — equivalent to 17.8 million Latinos — are under 18, and a quarter — or 14.6 million — belong to the Millennial generation, 18 to 33 years old.
“Nearly two thirds of millennial Hispanics are of Mexican origin,” said the Pew analysis, based on Census figures.
“The proportion of millenial Hispanics are of Mexican origin is higher than the proportion of Mexicans among the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation (57 percent) and older Hispanic adults (52 percent),” he said.
Among Hispanics under age 18, nearly seven in 10 (69 percent) are Mexican.
By comparison, 50 percent of the black population and 46 percent of Asian are millenials.
Among whites, the eldest U.S. racial group, only one in four are millenial or younger, according to the Pew analysis.
Historically the U.S. Latino population is among younger ethnic racial groups in the United States.
During the 1980s, the average age of Latinos was 22 years, but has consistently increased to an average of 28 years in 2014, the last year for which statistics are available.
Comparatively, the average age of non-Hispanic whites was 43 years in 2014 and 31 in 1980. In the case of Asian average age was 36 years and 28 years, while for African Americans was 33, 24 years, respectively.
Although the proportion of Latinos under 18 has declined since 1980, Hispanics are the ethnic group that has experienced the smallest increase in their average age, if contrasted with the other major racial groups in the United States.
In 1980, 40 percent of Latinos living in the US, equivalent to 14.8 million people, were under 18 years.
By comparison, the ratio of non-Hispanic whites was only 26 percent, according to the analysis.
By 1990 the proportion of Latinos age 18 was 35 percent (21.8 million people), a proportion that dropped to 32 percent in 2014.
