People of color currently make up 18 percent of the elderly population; however, their numbers are increasing mostly due to

• A. Higher fertility and immigration rates
• B. Better health care provided to lower-income neighborhoods
• C. More interracial marriages
• D. An improving quality of life standard in neighborhoods

Answer: (A)

A key idea here is how population composition changes over time due to birth patterns and migration. People of color have, in many historical periods, higher birth rates than other groups, so their share grows as those children age. At the same time, immigration brings more people of color into the country, and as these immigrants and their children live long enough to reach older ages, they join the elderly population. These dynamics — more births in these groups and ongoing immigration — are the main reasons their numbers among the elderly are rising.

Other factors like improvements in health care, more interracial marriages, or better neighborhood quality can influence how long people live or how identities shift, but they don’t drive the primary increase in the elderly share of people of color as strongly as fertility and immigration do.