Canadian: All About the Most Fascinating People in
the World and the Magical Place They Call Home. San
Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004. This book de-
tails the peculiarities of Canadians, from their so-
cial policies to their culture with a great sense of
humor.
Ferguson, Will, and Ian Ferguson.How to Be a Cana-
dian. 2d ed. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre,
- This book introduces the Canadian popula-
tion to Americans in a comic style.
Denyse Lemaire
See also Demographics of the United States; Im-
migration to Canada; Minorities in Canada.
Demographics of the United
States
Definition The size, composition, and
distribution of the population of the United
States
During the 1990’s, the major demographic trends of the pre-
ceding two decades continued, including the trend toward
greater diversity, improvements in health, increased high
school graduation rates, and a widening gap between the
wealthy and the poor. Most of the trends were expected to per-
sist into the foreseeable future.
The U.S. Census Bureau reported in 1990 that the
total population of the United States was 249.5 mil-
lion people. Ten years later, the census reported that
the number of people had grown to 282.1 million.
This growth of 13.1 percent was significantly higher
than the 9.8 percent increase during the 1980’s, al-
though it was much less than the 18.5 percent in-
crease during the baby boom of the 1950’s. For per-
spective, it might be noted that the national
populations of the eighteenth and nineteenth cen-
turies had typically grown by more than 30 percent
per decade, with several decades witnessing a growth
rate of more than 40 percent.
The changes in arrangements during the 1990’s
were generally similar to the patterns of the preced-
ing two decades. In 1990, 56 percent of persons fif-
teen years of age and older were married; in 1999,
the figure was 52.7 percent—which was a rather dra-
matic decline from the 71 percent recorded in 1970.
A notable increase was in the percentage of female-
headed households without a spouse, growing from
11.7 percent in 1990 to 12.3 percent in 1999, in
contrast to only 8.7 percent in 1970. Concomitantly,
the percentage of children living with both parents
was 67.2 percent in 1999, down from 72.5 percent in
1990 and 85.2 percent in 1970.Income The median household income in 1999
was $42,187, which was significantly higher than the
median of $38,446 in 1990 (adjusted for inflation in
1999 dollars). An unprecedented number of Ameri-
cans were enjoying high incomes. In 1999, about
13.4 percent of households reported incomes of
$100,000 or more—an increase from 8.7 percent in
1990 (adjusted for inflation). While the decade was a
time of rising affluence, household incomes became
somewhat more unequal. In 1990, households in the
top income quintile had 46.6 percent of the nation’s
aggregate income, rising to 49.6 percent in 1999.
Those in the other four quintiles saw their incomes
decline. The bottom fifth saw a decrease from 3.9
percent in 1990 to 3.6 percent in 1999.
During the 1990’s, women’s earnings increased
slightly more rapidly than those of men. In 1990, the
average earnings of full-time female workers was
71.6 percent of the average earnings of men, and it
increased to 74.2 percent in 1999. The percentage of
wives who earned more than their husbands in-
creased from 18.9 percent in 1990 to 22.7 percent in- During the decade, as more and more women
entered the labor force, the majority of two-earner
households did very well, having an average income
growth of 10 percent (adjusted for inflation); in con-
trast, the income of one-earner couples declined by
almost 5 percent.
The poverty rate of the 1990’s decreased only
slightly, going from 13.5 percent in 1990 to 11.8 per-
cent in 1999. In contrast, the poverty rate of the
1960’s had declined substantially, coming down
from about 22 percent in 1960 to slightly more than
11 percent in 1973. The less favorable poverty statis-
tics of the years after 1980 are commonly explained
by a combination of factors, including fewer govern-
ment programs, the growth in immigration and sin-
gle-parent families, and the decline in high-paying
jobs in manufacturing.
The poverty rate varied greatly among different
social groups. In 1999, for example, only 10.4 per-
cent of persons over sixty-five years old were offi-
cially poor, compared with 16.9 percent of children
under eighteen. A total of 23.5 million whites (or
250 Demographics of the United States The Nineties in America