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Half of the post-millennial generation is non-white

Reproduced from Pew Research Center; Note: Racial groups include only single-race Hispanics. Hispanics can be any race. Rows may add to more than 100% due to rounding; Chart: Axios Visuals

In a potentially significant political trend, almost half of 6- to 21-year-olds in the U.S. are Hispanic, African-American or Asian, according to a study released today by Pew Research.

Why it matters: Rapidly changing American demographics will have a profound impact on elections, government policies, economic opportunity, and more. "How we deal with this racially diverse generation ... will say a lot about how successful we will be as a nation," says Brookings' William Frey, author of "Diversity Explosion."

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The political impact of changing U.S. demographics can already be seen in the high turnout of young Americans in the midterm elections, Frey tells Axios — an estimated 31% of people 18 to 29 voted, the highest since 1994.

  • For Republicans, the threat is that younger generations, tending to care about abortion, gay rights, and immigration, will flock largely to Democrats, Frey said.
  • The most notable change has been the rise in the share of Hispanics. A quarter of the post-millennial generation is Hispanic, according to Pew, a growth of 7 percentage points since millennials were their age.

The youngest generation is also the most highly educated, with 59% of 18- to 20- year-olds enrolled in college, compared with 53% of millennials when they were the same age.

  • More than half of Hispanic and African-American 18- to 20-year-olds are enrolled in college, while 34% of millennial Hispanics and 47% of millennial African Americans were enrolled when they were the same age.
  • The share of 18- to 20-year-old Hispanics who have completed high school grew by 16 percentage points, to 76%, while the share for African-Americans increased from 71% to 77%.
  • 90% of Asians in the youngest generation have completed high school and 78% are enrolled in college, compared with 86% and 74% of 18- to 21-year-old Asian millennials.
Demography