Youth Indicators 1996 / Indicator 1, Chart 1

Indicator 1. Number of Young Adults

Population, by selected age groups: 1950 to 1994

SOURCE: U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports, Series P-25, Population Estimates and Projections, nos. 311, 519, 917, 1000, 1022, and 1095; and U.S. Population Estimates, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1990 to 1994, PPL-21.

Between 1955 and 1975 the proportion of young adults 14 to 24 years old increased from 15 to 21 percent. The number of 14- to 24-year-olds peaked in 1979 and has been declining, but has stabilized in the past couple of years. The proportion of this age group to the rest of the population fell steadily after 1975 to 15 percent in 1994, about where it was in 1960.