Multiracial, Multiethnic Babies On The Rise: Study

The percentage of multiracial and multiethnic babies born in the United States is on the rise, with almost three times as many in 2015 compared to 1980, according to a new Pew Research Center.

In 2015, one in seven, or 14 percent, of the babies born in the U.S. were multiracial or multiethnic, a nearly 5 percent increase since 2000.

The growing number of multiracial and multiethnic babies — which Pew defines as "children less than 1 year old whose parents are each of a different race, those with one Hispanic and one non-Hispanic parent, and those with at least one parent who identifies as multiracial" — coincides with an increase in interracial and multi-ethnic marriages, points out Pew. "In 1980, 7% of all newlyweds were in an intermarriage, and by 2015, that share had more than doubled to 17%, according to a recently released Pew Research Center report," writes Pew.

Both demographic shifts are probably the result of growing overall racial and ethnic diversity in the country, according to Pew.

The analysis, based on U.S. Census Bureau statistics, comes a week shy of the 50th anniversary of Loving v. Virginia, in which the Supreme Court legalized interracial marriage.

The study shows that among the infants that fit the criteria, "by far the largest portion have one parent who is Hispanic and one who is non-Hispanic white (42%)."

The numbers vary from state to state; 44 percent of babies in Hawaii are multiracial or multiethnic, but only 4 percent in Vermont are.

The changing numbers have been met with a mostly positive, or at least tolerant, attitude. In a 2015 study, Pew found that 65 percent of adults thought the trend of more children with parents of different races didn't make much of a difference. Twenty-two percent thought it was a good thing, and 11 percent thought it was bad.

The numbers the nonpartisan think tank came up with could've been even greater, according to Gretchen Livingston, the report's author.

“If someone looked at interracial and multiethnic kids and used a broader definition of ethnicity —the shares of multiethnic kids would certainly be much higher,” Livingstontold NBC News.

Read the Pew report here.

Image credit: Guian Bolisay via Flickr Commons