In order for a civilization to continue to exist, the people of that nation must reproduce in order to replace themselves once they have died. How many children a person must have to replace themselves is averaged and referred to as the reproducing rate.
Almost fifty percent of Earth's population resides in nations where the native-born residents are reproducing way under their reproduction rate. Currently, America's reproduction rate is 2.03 children per couple. The average couple is reproducing under this number, so why does the population keep growing? The main reason is that the United States accepts more legal immigrants than any other country in the world.
The problem with these permanent residents is that they immigrate to America when their families have started and they already have children. Many of them have more children than residents who are already established. As these children get older, they become distracted from starting a family because they are too busy obtaining an education and affluence. This has been a huge factor in the overall drop below the reproduction rate.
More than half of American children under the age of five belong to an ethnic or racial minority. However, because of the growing legal immigrant population, it is predicted that by 2050 non-Hispanic whites will be the slight minority overall.
