William H. Frey
On many levels we are continuing to slide in the wrong direction [in terms of recovery] but just at a much slower pace. Now inter-state migration is picking up, it's still below 2007 levels, on a number of measures we are not moving down as quickly as we were. It seems the worst is over.
Even today, young people are are much more open about immigration, much more open about interracial marriage...We've [United States] been so successful in lots of ways, but one aspect that we have not been successful in is total integration of the different racial groups. I think that will change dramatically over the next 30 years.
We can take good advantage of our history as an immigrant nation in incorporating new people and ideas into our society and economy, which will become even more important as the economy becomes more globalized. The sky's the limit.
The key [to raising voter turnout among Hispanics] is energizing those eligible voters, getting them to register, getting them to vote.
A decade from now, I think you'll see [changes in the electoral map due to minority population growth in] Arizona, Texas, and Georgia for sure. You have got to look at the South and West—those are the fast-growing parts of the country—and that's where the minorities are dominating the growth.
[The Asian-American population] is too small to make a difference on their own, but they could be a tipping point [in the 2012 U.S. presidential election]. In certain parts of the country, it’s going to be so close that any group can make a difference one way or the other.
I think it [the lack of minority support for Romney] really is an issue in 2012 as the country is becoming more diverse.
I think the era of broad prosperity for American seniors will end with the first wave of Baby Boomers, now entering their 60s. Times are tougher for their later Boomer brothers and sisters who entered the labor and housing markets in the late 1970s during tougher economic times.
Younger people are still struggling to just buy a home, and the kind of neighborhoods where they end up are not nearly as nice [as where their parents may have bought]. Age isn’t a part of the study [The Rise of Residential Segregation by Income, Pew Research Center], but it underlies it.