ic mix.
since 1970, the Hispanic population in the United States has increased over 60 percent. The 1980 census figures showed approximately 15 million Hispanics living on the mainland, and with the amount of growth posited, the Hispanic population has become one of the fastest growing segments in the entire U.S. population. In comparison, the total U.S. population grew only 11 percent in the same time it took the Hispanic population to grow six times that amount (Hispanics, 1984, p. 17).
One of the most apparent attributes regarding the growth of the Hispanic population is its high rate of fertility. U.S. Hispanics are a relatively young population, with a median age in 1980 of 23 compared to 31 for nonHispanics. Additionally, Mexican American women had the highest fertility rate of all ethnic groups, 111.3 per 1,000. In fact, Mexican American females average about three births each, compared to 2.4 births for blacks and 1.7 for whites. This clearly suggests that the Hispanic segment will be the fastest-growing population group throughout the next several decades (Hispanics, 1984, p. 17).
The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by the year 2000, there will be at least twice as many Hispanics in the United States as were estimated in the late 1980s. By the year 2030, the estimate rises to four times the present size, and by 2080, at least nine times greater (Exter, 1987, p. 38).
The number of Hispanics should grow to between 27 and 42 million by 2010, a 25-year increase of 57 to 133 percent, according to the Census Bureau. The total U.S. population is expected to grow from 239 million in 1985 to 283 million in 2010, only an 18-percent increase in 25 years.
If the Hispanic population grows at the slowest rate that the bureau projects, Hispanics will account for 20 percent of U.S. population growth. But if Hispanics grow at the highest rate that the bureau projects, they will account for 54 percent of the nation'...