Demographic Transitions and Population Problems in the United States

Abstract

The development, growth, and transformation of the population of the United States were unique in the late settlement; the vast, rich, and sparsely settled area; and the immigrant formation. There were demographic transitions rather than a unidirectional process. Birth rates were very high in the colonial and early national periods, declined in rural areas and cities alike to the 1930's, and then rose substantially, only to decline again for roughly a decade now. The occupational movements from agricultural to professional and related activi ties, the advances of education to high levels, and the changes from rural to urban and then to metropolitan residence underlay the demographic transitions. A generation ago the problems appeared those of decline; a decade ago the problems seemed to be those of a rapid growth that would eventually press on resources, economy, and social facilities. Today assessments of the future are conjectural. The major population problems are those of metropolitan agglomeration, particularly the differen tiations of central cities and outer areas; the swift movements of the disadvantaged Negro population into central cities; the mas sive irregularities in age changes introduced by the changing birth rates of past years; and the adjustments to exodus from the Deep South and the mid-continent and influx to Florida, the Southwest, and California. The most intricate problem is the reconciliation of the ideals of family size prevalent in the generally affluent population with the economic, social, and political developments that are muted and eventually jeopar dized by continuing increases in numbers.