United States population growth
By Marjorie Henry, Contributor

Convent of Mercy (Alpha) students wait patiently in the school's auditorium. - Contributed

I had indicated in an earlier lesson that you are required to know the factors affecting population growth in one Caribbean country and in one developed country. You must also be able to make a comparison.

In the last lesson, the focus was on the factors affecting population growth in Jamaica, the Caribbean country I chose to study. The developed country I have chosen to look at in today's lesson is the United States of America (U.S.A.). My main sources of reference are articles prepared by the Population Resource Center and Population Reference Bureau of the U.S. These were obtained through the Internet. The textbooks already mentioned in the previous lesson were also used.

1. Migration

The United States is the only industrialised country in the world where large population increases are projected owing mainly to immigration, which contributes to over one million people adding to the the U.S. population annually. The total foreign-born population in the United States is now 31.1 million, a record 57 per cent increase since 1990.

About 8 million of those are in the country illegally, a 4.5-million increase since 1990. In 2006, the population of The U.S. was estimated at 301.1 million. Most Americans are immigrants or descendants of immigrants who arrived in America over the past 200 years. Only a small fraction of the population is related to the American Indians who were there when the first European settlers arrived in the 1600s.

In the mid-1990s, the largest immigration flows were from Latin America and Asia into North America. In 2006, the U.S. population was 72 per cent non-Hispanic white; 12 per cent African-American; 11 per cent Hispanic; and five per cent Asian, and other. The minority share of the U.S. population has more than doubled since 1950. By 2050, whites, who were an 87 per cent majority in 1950, will comprise only 53 per cent of the U.S. population. Asians (including Pacific Islanders) are the fastest-growing minority group, having increased by 179 per cent since 1980. By 2050, Asians will comprise nearly 10 per cent of the U.S. population.

2. Fertility

Although the U.S. fertility rate declined from 2.5 to 2.0 since 1970, the average fertility rate is currently 2.1335 births per woman, The U.S.'s highest fertility rate since then. A high fertility rate has been a major source of population growth among minority groups. Hispanics have the highest fertility rate of any U.S. minority, with the average Hispanic woman giving birth to three children in her lifetime. The African American fertility rate is 2.2 lifetime births per woman. Non-Hispanic whites have the lowest fertility rate of 1.8.

Birth control is readily available and this along with the controversial issue of abortion is considered a strong factor in the lower U.S. birth rate.

3. Mortality

The data for 2006 show that the U.S. had an infant mortality rate (IMR) of five per 1000. This is a long way behind Japan, which has an IMR of 1.8 per 1000. For that year, there was a higher newborn death rate among U.S. minorities and disadvantaged groups. For example, the IMR among African Americans was 9.3 per 1,000, nearly double that of the U.S, as a whole. This was closer to third-world rates than developed countries.

There was a dramatic decrease in the maternal mortality rate (MMR) during the past several decades. Between 1970 and 1980, maternal mortality decreased from 21.5 to 9.4 deaths per 100, 000 live births, a 56 per cent drop. However, from 1980-1998, the rate remained between six and seven maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.

4. Life expectancy

Increased affluence and a high standard of living have lowered infant death rates and death rates in general. This in turn has increased life expectancy. Life expectancy in 2004 was 77.9 years. In addition, in the U.S., there is better nutrition and less disease.

5. Education

In 1997, approximately 82 per cent of Americans, ages 25 and older, had obtained at least a high school diploma. A significant per cent of that number continued their education beyond high school. Twenty-four per cent earned at least a bachelor's degree. There are more educational opportunities and jobs open to women. Education empowers women to choose careers over childbirth.

Since this topic is new in your syllabus, information on it in your textbooks is limited. May I encourage you to do further research on it for yourself. In the next lesson, I will attempt to make a comparison between the factors affecting population growth in Jamaica and the U.S.

Marjorie Henry is a vice-principal at Glenmuir High School and is head of the Geography Department. She teaches the subject at the CSEC Level.