Who We Are Now

Expanding and updating Who We Are: a Portrait of America Based on the Latest U.S. Census (1994), New York Times editor Roberts interprets demographics from Census 2000. Since the results of the last census have already been widely interpreted and disseminated, there are no surprises. But Roberts does do a competent cull, thoughtfully pulling sociological trends out of raw data, although the amount of data he does present, aided by 34 b&w illustrations, is close to overwhelming. Some facts: more and more respondents have identified themselves as coming from a mixed heritage; immigration, Roberts finds, is in part responsible for a population surge and for the fact that Hispanics now outnumber blacks; and although economic conditions have improved, many black and Hispanic children are still living in poverty. Roberts comments on the social implications of a growing elderly population and the dramatic transformation of the so-called nuclear family of the past. Less than one in four households are now made up of married couples with children, as younger people are delaying or forgoing marriage. Roberts includes an inquiry into how the U.S. fits into the demographics of the global community and is careful to refrain from making either overly positive or negative predictions for the future.