WEBVTT - What Did the 2020 Census Reveal?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>Hey brain Stuff Lauren Vogelbaum here. Every ten years since

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<v Speaker 1>the federal government of the United States conducts a census

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<v Speaker 1>of the country's population, which includes a headcount of the

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<v Speaker 1>people living in the country in addition to a distribution

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<v Speaker 1>breakdown of where those people live. The U. S Constitution

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<v Speaker 1>created the census in order to figure out how many

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<v Speaker 1>seats in the House of Representatives and how much federal

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<v Speaker 1>funding each state will get. The census asks questions about

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<v Speaker 1>every member of each household in America, including their sex, age,

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<v Speaker 1>stated race, and relationship to each other. Here are some

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<v Speaker 1>key takeaways from the U. S Census, now that the

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<v Speaker 1>results are in. The U S population grew slowly between

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<v Speaker 1>twenty from three eight point seven million to one point

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<v Speaker 1>four million people. That's an increase of twenty two point

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<v Speaker 1>seven million, but it's a percentage increase in total population

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<v Speaker 1>of only seven point four percent. This percentage increase in

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<v Speaker 1>total population of only seven point four percent rivals the

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<v Speaker 1>great depressions for slow growth in contrast, For example, the

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<v Speaker 1>period between nineteen fifty and nineteen sixty saw an eighteen

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<v Speaker 1>point five percent increase in the total US population. A

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<v Speaker 1>fewer children were born in the past decade than usual,

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<v Speaker 1>and the percentage of the US population under the age

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<v Speaker 1>of eighteen declined by almost one point five percent. A

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<v Speaker 1>Children now make up about twenty two percent of the population,

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<v Speaker 1>although that varies by factors like region. The population in

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<v Speaker 1>the Northeast is only twenty percent children, while in the

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<v Speaker 1>Southeast it's twenty two point five percent. American families have

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<v Speaker 1>become more multi racial, or are at least describing themselves

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<v Speaker 1>as such. Among the non Hispanic population alone, there was

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<v Speaker 1>a one hundred and twenty seven percent jump in people

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<v Speaker 1>who I identified as multi racial, and among the Hispanic

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<v Speaker 1>population it was even higher. The number of Hispanic Americans

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<v Speaker 1>who identifies multiracial grew from three million to twenty point

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<v Speaker 1>three million, a whopping five hundred and seventy six percent increase.

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<v Speaker 1>Americans who identify as multiracial still only make up around

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<v Speaker 1>four percent of the population, but this spike is significant.

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<v Speaker 1>It's possible that it has to do with an increase

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<v Speaker 1>in multiracial families, Americans reporting their race differently, or something

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<v Speaker 1>about the design of the is that caused people to

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<v Speaker 1>answer questions differently than before, or possibly all three. Along

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<v Speaker 1>with this, for the first time on record, the white

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<v Speaker 1>population of the United States, the largest racial group in

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<v Speaker 1>the country, shrank, falling from sixty percent of the population

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<v Speaker 1>to fifty eight percent. In Meanwhile, the Hispanic and Asian

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<v Speaker 1>populations grew, as of one in four Americans identified as

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<v Speaker 1>either Hispanic or Asian, according to demographers. A part of

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<v Speaker 1>the reason for the declining numbers of white Americans has

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<v Speaker 1>to do with their age. The median age of white

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<v Speaker 1>people in twenty nineteen was forty four years, compared with

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<v Speaker 1>thirty years for Hispanic people and thirty eight years for

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<v Speaker 1>the American population overall. This has to do with declining

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<v Speaker 1>birth rates, but also the baby Boomer generation moving into

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<v Speaker 1>their sixties and seventies. The growth in the US happened

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<v Speaker 1>almost exclusively in urban areas. Over the past decade. People

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<v Speaker 1>flocked from rural to metropolitan counties. Even in states that

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<v Speaker 1>are growing rapidly like Georgia and North Carolina, the rural

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<v Speaker 1>areas shranken population. Interestingly, a retirement community in Florida called

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<v Speaker 1>The Villages was the fastest growing metro area in the country,

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<v Speaker 1>seeing thirty nine percent growth between twenty and twenty Phoenix

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<v Speaker 1>Arizona overtook Philadelphia as the fifth largest city in America,

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<v Speaker 1>its population growing eleven percent in the past decade. Similarly,

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<v Speaker 1>Dallas and Houston, Texas are two of the fast is

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<v Speaker 1>to growing cities in the country. These are just a

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<v Speaker 1>few numbers from the Census. We'll have to stay tuned

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<v Speaker 1>to see what lawmakers choose to do with this information.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article eight Fascinating Findings

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<v Speaker 1>from the Census on how Stuff works dot Com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Desolin Shields. Brain Stuff is production of I Heart

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<v Speaker 1>Radio in partnership with how stuff works dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from my

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