Foreign-born immigrants are finding non-traditional territories to settle in, which is helping to stabilize the population in middle America, where the population of native-born Americans is in decline, a Pew study concludes.
The median age in the United States is rising with Americans living longer and having fewer children than in recent decades, The Pew Charitable Trusts’ December 2014 study says.
Statistics showed that the gap between citizens 65 and older and the working age citizens ages 24 to 64 is closing. This is an issue that presents a potential problem for the American labor force, especially in middle America, Pew said.
“93 percent of nearly all the working age population in America
will be immigrants; this includes their U.S.- born children”
.However, the influx of immigrant migration to middle America has helped to address the issue of an aging workforce. The 12-page brief also noted that the U.S. population’s size and makeup is an important aspect of the potential growth of economic production, to include taxes and spending.
With immigrants mitigating the working age population, the PEW Research Center has determined that by 2050, 93 percent of nearly all the working age population in America will be immigrants; this includes their U.S.-born children.
States such as California, Florida, Texas, New Jersey and New York are traditional hubs for incoming immigrants. These states have experienced a substantial increase in foreign-born adding to the population. The numbers have grown since 1990. From 1990 to 2012, the foreign-born population from ages 18 and older increased by 19.3 million or 109 percent from 17.7 million in 1990 to 37 million in 2012, the report said.
The increase of the foreign-born population was mirrored in other parts of the country. However, the native-born population in middle America decreased. The overall numbers declined for immigrants in Maine, western Pennsylvania, West Virginia, eastern Ohio and others. The decline was due to the exodus and a higher death than birth rate.
Along the Mississippi River, the southern part of Arkansas and into western Mississippi these facts could not have been more evident, as the Pew’s statistics indicated in the report. The document also reported that “approximately two-thirds of counties in North Dakota, Kansas and Nebraska experienced some decline in their native population; those counties had an average decline of 12 percent.”
The states where the native population grew were the traditional locations in which immigrants were received. The growth helped to drive the population increase in nontraditional states and locations. For example California’s and New Jersey’s immigrant population growth helped states in the southeastern and mountain states increase their population as these regions became a new destination for immigrants and foreign-born immigrants.
