Immigration To Drive Future USA Population Growth
15/02/2008
According to a recent immigration research and figure, 19 percent of Americans will be immigrants by 2050.
The Pew Research Centre's latest immigration figures state that the population in the United States will continue to rise and will reach a staggering 438 million by 2050.
The 82 percent increase will be due to immigrants who arrived the year 2005 and will continue to coming into the US by 2050 including their US-born descendants, 50 million will be their US-born children or grandchildren. Currently, an estimated 12 percent or Americans are foreign-born. This current population included both illegal and legal immigrants in the United States.
An important aspect of the report was the growth in the US elderly population, which will more than double in size from 2005 through 2050, as the baby boom generation enters retirement. The number of working age Americans and their children will grow more slowly and decrease as a share of the total population.
The ongoing debate on immigration in the US has focused on many aspects, such as expansion of H-1B visa quotas and the question of what to do with the problem of "undocumented workers". In light of recent figure on immigration, immigration has become an important focal point for candidates in the upcoming 2008 presidential elections.
Many immigration experts have suspected that Americans are going to look a lot different in forty plus years than they look now in effect America will look much like California does today as a smorgasbord that represents a racially and ethnically diverse nation. The report states:
By 2050, the nation's racial and ethnic mix will look quite different than it does now. Non-Hispanic whites, who made up 67% of the population in 2005, will be 47% in 2050. Hispanics will rise from 14% of the population in 2005 to 29% in 2050. Blacks were 13% of the population in 2005 and will be roughly the same proportion in 2050. Asians, who were 5% of the population in 2005, will be 9% in 2050
The study serves as a reminder of how much the U.S. must change and invite immigrants to work in the country if it hopes to continue to grow its economy and have enough workers to finance the retirements of the growing number of aging Americans. Canada and Australia have similar problems; however, these two countries have loosened up their immigration laws, to lure highly skilled migrants into the respective countries.
There has been mixed reactions towards these figures. "It's very important for our labour force to have immigrants come to the United States," said demographer William Frey of the Washington, D.C.-based Brookings Institution. "But what it doesn't show is whether immigrants will be able to fit the kinds of jobs needed to keep America ahead of the curve in the global economy."
Global Visas can help you become part of this new American evolution. To find out which visa you qualify for, take our visa eligibility assessment.
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