MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (OSBORNE) -- A new study says Tennessee is now one of 26 states where there are more deaths than births among the white population.
The study was released last week by the University of Wisconsin.
Demographers Rogelio Saenz (Signs) and Kenneth Johnson used federal data to show that Tennessee’s white population tipped over into decline in 2015.
Dr. Saenz has been studying birth and death rates for some three decades. He says demographers noticed years ago that the white population was trending toward decline as a result of an aging population and a drop in birth rates.
But he says the trend has accelerated in the last decade due in large part to what demographers are calling “deaths of despair;" suicides and overdoses.
“Particularly with working class whites. Much of it associated with I think the opioid epidemic, and we’ve seen the rising overdoses that have taken place.”
America’s minority populations, on the other hand, continue to expand, although their rate of growth is slowing. Dr. Saenz says one of the fastest growing minority groups is the multi-racial category.
“Which are individuals who belong to more than one race. So they can ben white and black; one white parent and one black parent, or one Asian parent and one white parent and so forth.”
Dr. Saenz says the U.S. can look to Europe to understand what the demographic changes will mean in the years ahead. He says the U.S. is about 20 years behind the same population trends in European nations.
The change has profound political implications, as whites lose majority status in a growing number of states.
You can review the complete study here.