Did you know that there are fewer children born now in the U.S. than at any time since 1930? The decade between 2010 and 2020 marks the lowest rate of population growth in the U.S, according to the World Population Prospects of the United Nations (2019). If the tendency for a low birthrate continues, 30 years from now population in the U.S. would be on the same level as it is today. Sure, there are certain positive factors about keeping the same level of population in a country. In a few years, there will be more growth in job sectors specializing in healthcare and retirement systems for aging populations.
However, there are significantly more negative outcomes of a stagnant level of population. For example, with time, there would be fewer schools and education opportunities for children due to the low occupation. The declining level of population leads to a drop in house prices, a decrease in demand for rental accommodations, slow turnover in business, and fewer opportunities for entertainment. According to Bricker and Ibbitson (2019), developed nations from Japan to Bulgaria are already experiencing the impact of population decline and struggle to grow their economies. If the young population of the US is not planning on solving the issue with a rapid increase of birthrate, the only logical answer to prevent the negative outcomes of the declining population is immigration.
Throughout the last century, immigration was the only thing that kept the population level of the US on the increasing side despite negative growth in the birth rate. According to figures from the Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs in the UN, there are nearly 50 million immigrants in the US (as cited in Man, 2021). In total, immigrants comprise around 15% of the population in the US, which means that at least one in every seven people in the US is foreign-born (Man, 2021). In this speech, I would like to illustrate how immigration positively participates in the life of American society through discussion of aspects of business, workforce, and cultural enrichment.
In terms of business development, immigrants actively participate in creating businesses and provide jobs for other people. People who purposefully move to the US tend to have more interest in entrepreneurship, which is proved by data from statistics. Although immigrants comprise 15% of the total population, 30% of American businesses belong to immigrants. In particular, almost half of companies from the Fortune 500 index were founded by immigrants or second-generation immigrants.
Two common theories are offering an explanation for high entrepreneurship rates among immigrants. The first theory of disadvantage suggests that immigrants are forced to entrepreneurship to provide themselves a source of income (Dabić et al., 2020). The second theory implies that for immigrants, starting a business in another country is an easier way to build a professional career than seeking a job opportunity in a local labor market (Dabić et al., 2020). However, these theories predominantly focus on first-generation immigrants, while the phenomenon of second-generation immigrants being drawn to entrepreneurship is still not fully studied yet. For example, the research conducted by Lee and Eesley (2018) defined that Asian Americans students from Stanford actively participate in university entrepreneurship programs and are more entrepreneurial than their non-American Asian counterparts. Although the research clearly defined differences in entrepreneurship rates among Asian American alumni, there was no certain correlation found apart from them being the second generation of immigrants.
In addition to creating businesses and providing themselves with an income, immigrants create job opportunities, contributing to the overall state of the economy and GDP. Moreover, the International Monetary Fund connects an increase in the share of immigrants with an increased GDP per person. High GDP, in general, is associated with a better economic status of the country and indicates better conditions for job creation and a rise in employment. Aside from creating new jobs and employment opportunities, immigrants contribute to the overall state of the workforce in the country.
As it was already stated earlier, due to the reduced birth rates, the median age of both population and workforce is on the verge of an increase. Immigration helps to maintain the workforce age in intervals that support an increase in productivity and efficiency. The current trends of digital work require specific skills that are rare to the older workforce. Thus, to keep the development and progress rates at adequate speed, the workforce requires the constant addition of younger workers. On the other hand, immigrants as a workforce bring additional experience, with new skills, and fresh perspectives, and insight into the existing problems. Immigrant flow helps to cover the shortage of employees, talents, and skilled personnel in a wide variety of areas of the economy. According to Lee and Eesley (2018), the immigration policies often focus on low-skilled immigrants, while the development and separation of additional high-skill immigration policies could positively influence entrepreneurship and innovation areas. Although attracting high skill immigrants increases the productivity and innovative capacity in host countries, all immigrants contribute to the cultural enrichment of the host country.
One of the key features of the United States, the diversity of people with different backgrounds and beliefs, was achieved through immigrants’ active participation in the country’s social and cultural life. According to the latest information, in the last ten years, United States has become more multiethnic and multiracial than ever, with people of color now representing 43% of the total US population (Boschma et al., 2021). The graphic below shows the data from the 2020 Census and the structure of racial representation in the US (Hickey, 2021). Aside from cultural diversity offering more opportunities for innovations and positive economic outcomes, it makes the everyday life of the population better through promoting dialogue and openness to other perspectives. Multiculturalism supports the cultural exchange and offers new opportunities, knowledge, and experiences to the participants. The participants and spectators of the cultural exchange can benefit from it in multiple ways. Some of the most popular features are an increased variety of food options from all around the world, new entertainment options like foreign TV shows, and new kinds of imported goods.
In conclusion, my objective for this speech was to influence the audience’s thinking on the theme of immigrants making the life of the US population better in terms of social life and economic improvements. With the current problem of the declining birth rate in the US, the only solution to prevent adverse outcomes is to encourage immigration. The is a positive correlation between immigration rates and GDP level that defines the state of the economy, which indicates that immigrants make a significant contribution to the wellbeing of the US economy. Particularly with the declining birth rate, the median workforce age is slowly increasing, which presents a threat to the speed of innovations and the overall productivity of the economy. In the digital age, the new technologies demand a specific set of skills that are rarely found in older employees. Recruiting immigrants helps to maintain the median workforce age and to cover the shortage of skilled employees and talents while also promoting the exchange of knowledge and experience.
Aside from contributing to the workforce in general, immigrants create businesses that offer job opportunities to other people. Not only the first-generation immigrants have a tendency to entrepreneurship, but second-generation immigrants also comprise a big part of business; almost half of Fortune 500 companies are founded by first- or second-generation immigrants. However, the most common benefit of people from different cultures and beliefs moving to the US is the cultural exchange between different nations within the country. Although there could always be misunderstandings and tensions between residents and immigrants, residents should take into consideration that moving to another country required great courage and effort. People frequently fail to see the individuals and the history behind the term immigrant. However, the immigrants’ efforts to make it in another country and rights should not be dismissed by the residents of the US.
References
Boschma, J., Wolfe, D., Krishnakumar, P., Hickey, C., Maharishi, M., Rigdon, R., Keefe, J., & Wright, D. (2021, August 12). Census release shows America is more diverse and more multiracial than ever. CNN. Web.
Bricker, D, & Ibbitson, J. (2019). Empty planet: The shock of global population decline. Hachette.
Dabić, M., Vlačićc, B., Paul, J., Dana, L., Sahasranamam, S., & Glinka, B. (2020). Immigrant entrepreneurship: A review and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 113, 25-38. Web.
Hickey, C. (2021). The United States is becoming less White, more multiethnic and multiracial [Graphic]. Web.
Lee, Y., & Eesley, C. (2018). The persistence of entrepreneurship and innovative immigrants. Research Policy, 47(6), 1032-1044. Web.
Man, J. (2021). Useful immigration statistics in the United States. Diversity for Social Impact. Web.
United Nations. (2019). United States: Average annual number of births [Graphic]. Web.