Older people will outnumber children in the United States for the first time ever in 2030, according to the U.S. government.
According to a U.S. Census Bureau projection, by 2030, the baby boomer generation, born between 1946 and 1964, will have turned 65, making one out of every five Americans retirement age.
“The aging of baby boomers means that within just a couple decades, older people are projected to outnumber children for the first time in U.S. history,” said Jonathan Vespa, a demographer with the U.S. Census Bureau. “By 2035, there will be 78.0 million people 65 years and older compared to 76.4 million under the age of 18.”
The report also found that during the 2030s the population will still grow, albeit at a slower pace. There will also be more racial and ethnic diversity, with international migration driving population growth more than births, census said, adding that will also be another first for the country.
And while births will be up to four times more than international migration, the rate of death among older Americans will offset births.
The Census Bureau projects that by 2060, the population of the U.S. will increase by 78 million, from 326 million now to 404 million then. The population will cross the 400 million mark in 2058, according to the Census Bureau.
By 2060, the median age in the U.S. will be 43 as opposed to 38 now. That will pose a challenge to the economy because by 2060, there will be only two-and-a-half workers for every retirement-age person, down from three-and-a-half in 2020.
One of the fastest growing sectors of the population will be people of two or more races. The bureau projects Asians and Hispanics will also be growing rapidly. Whites are expected to decline from 199 million in 2020 to 179 million in 2060.
