Children of immigrants driving US workforce growth, says report

There might be a rise in anti-immigrant feelings in several parts of the world, including the US, but a new report shows how workers born to immigrants are crucial to the American economy. Immigrant-origin workers made up 29% of the entire US workforce in 2023, up from 19% in 2000, says the report by the Migration Policy Institute.

There are 47.6 million workers who are immigrants or US-born children of immigrants, and this number is growing. Children born to immigrants now make up a substantial 29% of the US workforce.

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This increase in the last two decades is even more important because US birth rates are falling.

There has been a visible rise in anti-immigration attitudes in the US, and immigration has become one of the top issues in the 2024 US presidential election. Republican candidate Donald Trump has ramped up anti-immigrant rhetoric and his messaging often relies on falsehoods about migration, according to a report by the Associated Press.

However, the latest report by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), an American liberal think tank established in 2001, shows the extent to which immigrant-origin people are vital to America’s economy.

Immigrants and their US-born children were responsible for the entire growth in the prime working-age population (ages 25-54) between 2000 and 2023. Without them, this vital part of the workforce would have shrunk by over 8 million people.

The need for college-educated workers in the US is growing even though some people argue college isn’t worth it.

Right now, 62% of adults have a college degree or something similar, but by 2031, 72% of jobs will require it.

This is because the US economy is changing from factories to service industries and jobs that use a lot of knowledge. New technology, older people retiring, and a focus on green jobs are all making this change happen even faster.

The report, titled ‘How Immigrants and Their US-Born Children Fit into the Future US Labor Market’, looks at the educational needs of future US jobs and evaluates if today’s workers have the necessary education and training.

Using data from the US Census Bureau and predictions about job growth and educational needs, the report compares trends between immigrant-origin individuals and US-born adults with US-born parents.

Additionally, it discusses the implications of these findings for the workforce and immigration policies.

A press release by the MPI highlights the key findings:

Broad segments of the immigrant-origin adult population are well positioned to participate in a future labor market that will require a higher level of education and skill.

As of 2023, 75% or more of Asian American and Pacific Islander, Black and White adults who are the US-born children of immigrants (in other words, the second immigrant generation) had at least some post-secondary education.

By contrast, fewer than 60% of Latino adults who are immigrants (first generation) or the second generation had any post-secondary education, as was the case for 62% of Black immigrants.

Recently arrived immigrants (those entering in 2020 or later) may be among the best prepared for the college attainment requirements of future jobs: 41% held a bachelor’s degree or higher, as compared to 36% of the third-and-higher generation (those born in the United States to US-born parents). These adults will be well positioned to pursue jobs in fast-growing, high-skilled Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) occupations.

Even occupations that have long employed large shares of people without post-secondary education and training — such as health-care support, food and personal services, and some blue-collar jobs — will require higher levels of education in the next decade.

While immigrant-origin adults made up 29% of all workers in 2023, they represented 36% of those in food and personal services occupations and 34% in health-care support and blue-collar occupations.

Among the 29.8 million immigrant-origin adults without post-secondary education or training, many are first-generation immigrants who would need to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent before considering post-secondary options.

To support the ongoing growth of the US economy, many workers—immigrant-origin and otherwise—will need to upskill or retrain to acquire in-demand credentials and competencies or strengthen their general skills and digital literacy. Such efforts could include policies and programs to reduce barriers that affect all workers seeking to increase their skills.

“In an economy marked as much by its growth as by wide, sustained mismatches between the skills workers have and those employers need, policymakers will need to ensure that more workers across the immigrant generation, gender, racial and ethnic and other groupsâ€æ are equipped for the increasingly demanding jobs of the future,” stated MPI analysts.