The Changing Face Of America's Youth

(CNN) -- The United States is walking a path to greater diversity. And younger people are leading the way.

For the first time in national history, the majority of young people in two states -- California and New Mexico -- now identify as Hispanic, according to census data released this year.

In eight additional states -- Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, Maryland and Hawaii -- white children are in the minority compared with peers from other racial and ethnic groups combined, according to data analyzed by William Frey at the Brookings Institution.

The number of white children in the United States actually shrank by 4.3 million kids from 2000 to 2010, according to the analysis.

Meanwhile, the number of Hispanic and Asian children grew by a total of 5.5 million. Hispanics made up the bulk of this growth.

"Were it not for Hispanics, the nation's child population would have declined," Frey writes in his report, titled "America's Diverse Future."

The trend is expected to continue, with changes first hitting people younger than 18, then spreading as generations age.

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