HOW 4.5 MILLION IRISH IMMIGRANTS BECAME 40 MILLION IRISH-AMERICANS - DEMOGRAPHIC AND SUBJECTIVE ASPECTS OF THE ETHNIC-COMPOSITION OF WHITE AMERICANS

In 1980, for the first time, the U.S. Census contained a subjective qu estion about ethnic identity. Natural increase, intermarriage, and sub jective identification contribute to the current size of each ethnic g roup. Simulations for the British-, Irish-, German-, and Italian-origi n populations show the interaction among time of arrival, overall fert ility and mortality trends, and differential fertility in determining natural increase. The subjective identification with some ethnic group s, notably the Irish and Germans, exceeds what natural increase would imply, while identification with other ethnic groups falls short of wh at demographic processes would imply. Loglinear models of ethno-religi ous intermarriage show that religious diversity is an important factor in the diffusion of Irish and German identities, while the relative r eligious homogeneity of the British and Italians limits the diffusion of those identities. The subjective component is a residual in this an alysis.