Discuss the demographic profile of the White non-Hispanic populations
Austria-Hungary, Canada, and Russia; they comprised a majority of the total immigrant population. However, in 1970, the numbers of immigrants from Europe began to decrease.
In 2010, there were a total of 1,042,635 Legal Permanent Residents (LPRs) in the United States, 46% of whom were new arrivals. People from Europe comprised 8.5% of this population. Not one European nation was among the top 20 nations of birth (Monger & Yankay, 2011, p. 4).
In 2010, there were 619,913 people who naturalized—became citizens of the United States. Of this number, 12.6% were born in Europe. Of the Euro- pean population, 1.4% were from the United Kingdom (Lee, 2011, p. 2).
The 1980 census was the first to include a question about ancestry. The U.S. Census Bureau uses the term ancestry to refer to a person’s ethnic origin or descent, roots, heritage, or the place of birth of the person or the person’s parents or ancestors before their arrival in the United States. Some ethnic iden- tities, such as “German” can be traced to geographic areas outside the United States, while other ethnicities, such as “Pennsylvania Dutch” or “Cajun,” evolved in the United States. Table 13–1 illustrates the numbers of people claiming ancestry from European countries. The responses to the question of ancestry were a reflection of the ethnic group(s) with which persons identi- fied, and respondents were able to indicate their ethnic group regardless of how many generations they were removed from it.
An additional facet to note is that in many states, the non-Hispanic White population is now a minority. States where less than 50% of the population are non-Hispanic Whites are California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas. The District of Columbia has a White non-Hispanic minority of 35% (Humes, Nicholas & Ramirez, 2011, p.18).
The following discussion focuses on selected White ethnic groups and attempts to describe some of the history of their migration to America, the areas where they now live, the common beliefs regarding health/HEALTH and illness/ILLNESS, some kernels of information regarding family and social life, and problems that members from a given group may have in interacting with
Table 13–1 Population by Selected Ancestry Group: 2010