The Old and the White
by Tony Chavira
(comic by Bill Portier)
An interesting article in National Journal revolves around the obvious point that the "white majority" is really just in the baby boomer generation. I've slapped on a few emphases for gusto:
From one direction, racial diversity in the United States is growing, particularly among the young. Minorities now make up more than two-fifths of all children under 18, and they will represent a majority of all American children by as soon as 2023, demographer William Frey of the Brookings Institution predicts.
Over time, the major focus in this struggle is likely to be the tension between an aging white population that appears increasingly resistant to taxes and dubious of public spending, and a minority population that overwhelmingly views government education, health, and social-welfare programs as the best ladder of opportunity for its children. "Anything to do with children in the public arena is going to generate a stark competition for resources," Frey says.
At the same time, the country is also aging, as the massive Baby Boom Generation moves into retirement. But in contrast to the young, fully four-fifths of this rapidly expanding senior population is white. That proportion will decline only slowly over the coming decades, Frey says, with whites still representing nearly two-thirds of seniors by 2040.
These twin developments are creating what could be called a generational mismatch, or a "cultural generation gap" as Frey labels it. A contrast in needs, attitudes, and priorities is arising between a heavily (and soon majority) nonwhite population of young people and an overwhelmingly white cohort of older people. Like tectonic plates, these slow-moving but irreversible forces may generate enormous turbulence as they grind against each other in the years ahead.
[...]
The twist is that graying white voters who are skeptical of public spending may have more in common with the young minorities clamoring for it than either side now recognizes. Today's minority students will represent an increasing share of tomorrow's workforce and thus pay more of the payroll taxes that will be required to fund Social Security and Medicare benefits for the mostly white Baby Boomers. Many analysts warn that if the U.S. doesn't improve educational performance among African-American and Hispanic children, who now lag badly behind whites in both high school and college graduation rates, the nation will have difficulty producing enough high-paying jobs to generate the tax revenue to maintain a robust retirement safety net.
It's funny how the baby boomer generation began with many being so liberal. In an interesting turn of events for programs like affordable housing (which can always benefit from more government support, even if it isn't financial) this can potentially mean that younger voters will be more willing to support social programs like affordable or public housing. The baby boomer generation knew this when they were advocating for this a while back, why would they all suddenly turn around? Based on not wanting to pay their historically-low taxes, even when public well-being is at an all-time low and homelessness is at an all-time high?
Sometimes it takes a whole generation to wake up to pressing issues, though who knows where exactly the younger generation will end up.
Comments
No comments.
