home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
TIME: Almanac 1990
/
1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso
/
time
/
021389
/
02138900.033
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1990-09-17
|
867b
|
17 lines
NATION, Page 41American NotesPOPULATIONHeaded Downward
In the 199 years since the first national census was taken,
the population of the U.S. has grown from about 4 million in 1790
to nearly 247 million today. Last week the U.S. Census Bureau
predicted the eventual end of that era of uninterrupted increase.
In 50 years, the bureau forecast, America's population could peak
at 302 million and then begin a slow decline before stabilizing at
292 million in 2080.
With the baby-boom generation growing older, said the bureau,
the number of women in their prime childbearing age has already
begun to decline. But a smaller work force does not necessarily
mean economic stagnation. "These changes don't come upon us
overnight," says Thomas Espenshade, a population expert at
Princeton University. "We should be able to accommodate them."