Minorities in U.S. Could Become the Majority in 40 Years

Minorities are on their way to majority status in the U.S., and demographers say 2010 could be the "tipping point" -- the first year the number of babies born to non-white Americans outnumbers children born to whites.

Minorities made up 48 percent of children born in 2008, the last year census estimates are available, compared to 37 percent in 1990, The Associated Press reported. This year that number is expected to top 50 percent.

If the trend continues, minorities are expected to become the U.S. majority within 40 years. Whites currently make up two-thirds of the total population.

"Census projections suggest America may become a minority-majority country by the middle of the century. For America's children, the future is now," University of New Hampshire sociologist Kenneth Johnson told the AP.

A major reason for the switch is the fact that a growing number of Hispanic women in their prime childbearing years are immigrating to the U.S.

The numbers will come into greater focus after the conclusion of the 2010 census, which begins next week.