The U.S. government says for the first time, the majority of babies in the United States are minorities, a change likely to impact the country's racial and ethnic makeup in the future.

A Census Bureau study released Thursday shows that non-Hispanic whites make up less than half of all children under age three.

In 1990, more than 60 percent of children in that age group were white.

The study also shows that 12 states now have white populations of less than 50 percent among children under age five, and that seven more states could fall into that category in the coming decade.

An analyst on child demographics in the U.S., Laura Speer, says Americans are moving toward the reality they are living in a different world than the 1950s. She says it is clear the younger generation is very demographically different today than the elderly.