New Census Bureau Data tell the Story of our Future
Population data released last week by the U.S. Census Bureau points to an aging country where children of color under 15 years old now make up the majority of children. As Brookings’ William Frey noted, the “nation’s diversity is percolating from the “bottom up” as the white population ages.” I will leave the consideration of the demographics of this to demographers, but let’s unpack a bit about what it means for those working to ensure that all children and their families flourish.
As the children of the United States become a more diverse group, it is imperative that we develop new mechanisms for ensuring diversity and equity are baked into the leadership of philanthropies and systems, and that diverse voices are represented at policymaking tables. Our recent experience indicates the continued difficulty of this. Despite the diversification of the country those sitting in positions of leadership remain mostly white and privileged in virtue of their education, backgrounds, and wealth. We will talk more about this later this year when we release the first-ever Futures for Young Children and Families forecast. Stay tuned. But what might those mechanisms look like.
First, we must engage parents and caregivers in the co-design of the systems that serve them and their children. As my colleague Sheetal Singh and I wrote last year, parents are the best “co-designers and co-innovators with tremendous perspectives about what works and what doesn’t work for caregivers in the post-industrial, digital age in which they live, work, and are raising children.” Too often we talk about the diversity of the families we serve without diversity in the room, but even more strikingly without those people we serve in the room. A more cooperative approach — where parents are seen to be cooperating with the systems that help them teach, form, and raise their children — is needed to improve the impact of systems in child health, early childhood, and more.
Secondly, we must promote relational health as the beating heart of child health and flourishing. Despite differences, relationships are at the core of the human experience. A focus on early relational health can establish bridges between cultures and races, systems and programs. We should refocus our work for children to imagine it principally as an act of stewardship in service to the relational health of the human community. Let’s not chiefly serve systems that for the most part inadequately reflect the diversity of our country, but redesign systems to serve relationship, in both its cultural diversity and sameness.
As the country becomes more diverse and equity concerns take a more central place in discussions about our future, it is important that we remember that diversity and equity has an end: the common good. Too often we talk about diversity and equity as if they are ends unto themselves, but they aren’t. Diversity and equity are important because they serve the common good and the public interest. Our country is strong precisely because of our differences, because out of many emerge a “one” capable of self-government. As we form the next generation of diverse children for lives in an even more diverse nation it is important that we lead them to an understanding of diversity and equity that appreciates the ends those values serve. E Pluribus Unum. May it always be so.
Photo by Chayene Rafaela on Unsplash
