Two Decades, Major Shifts

Changes include fewer children, fewer traditionally married families, more acceptance of same-sex marriage, and a more suburban makeup.

"The end of the first decade of the 21st century marks a turning point in the nation's social, cultural, geographic, racial and ethnic fabric. It's a shift so profound that it reveals an America that seemed unlikely a mere 20 years ago - one that will influence the nation for years to come in everything from who is elected to run the country, states and cities to what type of houses will be built and where.

The metamorphosis over just two decades stuns even demographers and social observers.

'It was always predicted that we would be diverse, but it's happened faster than anyone predicted,' says Cheryl Russell, former editor in chief of American Demographics magazine, now editorial director of New Strategist Publications, publisher of reference tools. 'Diversity and the rapid growth in diversity is one of the reasons we have a black president today. That's one thing that would never have been predicted.'"