(RNN) - A study released by the Applied Population Lab earlier this week found that whites are dying faster than they are being born.
Researchers say there are now 26 states that are experiencing what is being called white natural decrease.
This decrease has accelerated significantly from 17 stares back in 2014.
There are two factors researchers say are contributing to the natural decrease.
According to researchers, 500,000 fewer babies are being born annually now than had The Great Recession fertility rates been sustained.
And, nearly 2.1 million more women of prime childbearing age are childless than would be expected.
A significant share of those 500,000 annual births that are not occurring would have been white, according to the report.
A second factor is the increasing rate of mortality among 30-to-59-year-old whites.
These deaths have been called "deaths of despair."
And they include; drug-induced deaths, intentional suicide, accidental drug overdose and alcohol deaths.
Researchers say these causes of death have increased greatly in recent years among whites.
Overall, researchers say that the growing natural decline among whites in U.S. states contributes to the larger racial and ethnic shifts which are occurring in the U.S.
According to Census Bureau projections, the white population will begin to decline in absolute numbers between 2030 and 2040, and that by 2050 whites will constitute less than half of the U.S. population.
As baby-boomers continue to age, the report states that demands on the health care and retirement system will dramatically increase.
In conclusion, researchers determined that natural decrease is the ultimate demographic consequence of population aging, low fertility, and a diminishing childbearing-age population.
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