Trends in the Racial and Ethnic Classification of Mixed‐Heritage Children in the United States, 2000–2022

Christel Kesler

Social Science Quarterly, 2025, vol. 106, issue 2

Abstract: Objectives This article examines trends in how parents of mixed White and non‐White—Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Latinx, and Middle Eastern or North African—heritage report the heritage of their children on government surveys and whether parents’ classification of their children varies by major sociodemographic characteristics. Methods Using 2000–2022 American Community Survey (ACS) data, a first analysis focuses on first‐generation biracial children, whose parents report being of two different monoracial categories. A second analysis includes a broader population with variation in the generational timing of mixed heritage and in whether parents indicate their mixed heritage in response to ACS race or ancestry questions. Results Parents became more likely throughout the period, by up to 20–30 percentage points for some groups, to report their children's heritage as mixed, while both White‐only and non‐White‐only classification declined. Parents who report mixed heritage for their children are more socioeconomically advantaged, by income and education, than those who choose a single‐heritage label. Conclusions Among parents with the same mixed heritage, preferences about how to classify their children have substantially shifted in a multiracial direction. This shift accentuates underlying growth in the population of multiracial children.

Date: 2025
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