Voting and Demographics
The growth in the immigrant population has helped to strengthen and remake America over the last two decades. Today, as thousands of baby boomers retire each day, working-age immigrants are filling gaps in the labor market, paying billions of dollars in taxes that help our entitlement programs survive, and buying homes in communities that would otherwise be in decline. Millions of immigrants have also earned U.S. citizenship and the right to vote while millions more are estimated to be eligible to naturalize.
Dayton City Commissioner Says Immigrant Friendly Initiatives are Revitalizing the Local Economy
Matt Joseph would not be serving his fourth term as the city commissioner of Dayton, Ohio if many decades ago his grandmother had not made a particular demand. She told her boyfriend—Matt’s future grandfather—that she would marry only if he agreed to leave their native Lebanon for America. Read More
‘Biliteracy’ Seal on Student Diplomas Will Recognize and Reward Bilingualism
Ability to speak two languages called important advantage for NJ students as they enter workforce and college New Jersey has joined more than a dozen other states that endorse an official seal on high school graduates’ diplomas and other records that signifies they are proficient in a second language. Known… Read More
Language Diversity and the Workforce: The Growing Need for Bilingual Workers in New Jersey’s Economy
This week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie approved a statewide Seal of Biliteracy, an award given by the school system to students who have attained a high level of proficiency in two or more languages by high school graduation. The bill’s passage coincides with the release of a NAE research… Read More
New Jersey Governor Signs Seal of Biliteracy Bill, as Top Garden State Employers and Industry Seek Bilingual Talent
CONTACT Sarah Doolin, New American Economy, [email protected] Trenton, NJ — This week, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie approved a statewide Seal of Biliteracy, an award given by the school system to students who have attained a high level of proficiency in two or more languages by high… Read More
Study Touts Benefits of Immigration
Foreign-born residents in Toledo contribute millions through spending power and paying taxes, and they have offset some of the area’s decades of population loss, according to a report released today detailing the economic impact of immigrants. The report — issued by Welcome Toledo-Lucas County, the county’s welcoming initiative, and developed… Read More
Report: Foreign-born residents strengthening Toledo
Immigrants continue to strengthen communities across the United States, including Toledo and other Ohio cities, according to research done by The Partnership for a New American Economy. A series of research briefs unveiled by Lucas County commissioners Tuesday offer insight into the ways foreign-born residents of Toledo and other Ohio… Read More
Lucas County Commissioners Release Report on Immigration Statistics in Toledo
Lucas County Commissioners released a report Tuesday that gives the community more insight on the topic of immigrants resettling in the area. The report “New Americans in Toledo: A Snapshot of the Demographic and Economic Contributions of Immigrants” was compiled by Partnership for a New American Economy and features… Read More
Study: Immigrants Contribute Enormously to Toledo Economy
The group Partnership for a New American Economy says immigrants spend more than $240 million in our community. According to a study released Tuesday: Immigrants in Toledo pay $31 million various taxes…are 2-times more likely to have a college degree and are 2-times more likely to own their own business. Toledo’s losing population,… Read More
New Americans in Toledo
New American Economy has developed a series of research briefs that examine the demographic and economic contributions of immigrant communities in cities across Ohio. The fourth report in the series focuses on Toledo and provides information on how immigrants have strengthened the local tax base, boosted the economy… Read More
New Americans in Columbus
New American Economy has developed a series of research briefs that examine the demographic and economic contributions of immigrant communities in cities across the state of Ohio. The latest report, produced with the City of Columbus and the Columbus Chamber of Commerce, focuses on Ohio’s capital city, Columbus, and shows… Read More
Immigrant Population Growth
Both the number and the share of immigrants in America are increasing, with the U.S. Census Bureau projecting that between 2027 and 2038 international migration will be the primary driver of U.S. population growth for the first time in two centuries.1 The trend is already underway. Between 1990 and 2014, the number of immigrants living in America more than doubled. By 2014, more than one in eight Americans were foreign-born. Immigrants play a particularly important role in California, where they make up more than one out of every four residents.
Sources:
1 U.S. Census Bureau, “International Migration is Projected to Become Primary Driver of U.S. Population Growth for First Time in Nearly Two Centuries,” press release (2013), accessed July 30, 2014. Available online.
Share of Population, Foreign-Born
Mitigating Baby Boomer Retirement
The ratio of seniors to working-age adults in America has remained relatively constant since 1980, at about 240 seniors for every 1,000 workers. With the Baby Boomers’ retirement, however, the ratio is poised to jump a stunning 67 percent in the next two decades, to 411 seniors for every 1,000 workers.2 Already, less than half the U.S.-born population is working-age, or between the ages of 25 and 64. Meanwhile, almost three-quarters of the foreign-born population fall into that age bracket, allowing them to make important contributions to both the labor force and U.S. tax coffers.
Sources:
2 Dowell Myers, “Immigrants’ Contributions in an Aging America,” Community Banking, no. Sum (2008): 3–5.
Age Breakdown of Select Populations, 2014
States with the Largest Gap Between Share of Native-Born and Foreign-Born Populations that are Working-Aged, 2014
Housing and Entitlement Contributions
Because immigrants are far more likely to be working-age, they play an important role contributing to the entitlement programs that help seniors as they age. One NAE study found that between 1996 and 2011 immigrants contributed $182.4 billion more to Medicare’s Hospital Insurance Trust Fund—the core trust fund in the program—than was expended on their care. Immigrants also have made up roughly one in seven homebuyers in recent years, often purchasing the homes of Baby Boomers as they retire.
Amount Immigrants Contributed to Entitlement Programs, 2014
States where Immigrants Made up the Largest Share of Homebuyers, 2010-2014
Fueling Growth in New Destination States
Before 1990, nearly three-quarters of immigrants lived in one of six gateway states: California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, and Texas.3 By 2010, those states’ share had started to drop significantly, to 65 percent, as immigrants increasingly began settling in new-destination states, such as Colorado, Nevada, North Carolina, and Washington. As immigrants move into new states, they help offset brain drain and population decline, often filling positions that would have remained vacant otherwise. The more than 10,000 immigrants that moved to North Dakota between 2010 and 2014, for instance, helped fill labor gaps created when locals took well-paid jobs during the shale oil boom.4
Sources:
3 The Pew Charitable Trusts, “U.S. Immigration: National and State Trends and Actions” (November 2013). Available online.
4 Jack Nicas, “North Dakota City Draws Foreign Workers,” Wall Street Journal, 2012, sec. Business. Available online.
States with Largest Percent Increase in Number of Immigrants, 2010-2014
Voting Power and Citizenship
As more immigrants naturalize and become eligible to vote, they will continue to gain power at the voting booth. Nationally, almost 20 million foreign-born citizens were eligible to vote in the 2016 election. By 2020, that figure is projected to rise to 21.2 million. In some states, foreign-born voters are already capable of deciding elections. In Nevada, for instance, almost 256,000 immigrants were eligible to vote in 2016, a number more than nine times higher than Hillary Clinton’s margin of victory in the state that year.
Eligible Immigrant Voters Versus Number of Votes that Decided Presidential Result in Key States, 2016
Immigrants Eligible to Naturalize in Selected States and the United States, 2017
Diversifying the Electorate
Although the white working class played a significant role in the 2016 election, demographic trends mean they will see their influence decline in future electoral contests. While only 11.2 percent of the current U.S. senior population identifies as Hispanic or Asian-American, 27.8 percent of those graduating from high school in the next decade do.5 This means that between 2015 and 2024, the share of the electorate that is white is projected to decline by 4.4 percent. The share that will be both white and working class will see even steeper declines, falling by 5.5 percent. Given this reality, politicians hoping to remain competitive in key states in the future will need to ensure that they do not ignore the needs of Hispanic and Asian voters, many of whom are immigrants.
Sources:
5 2013 American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates.
Projected Decline in the Share of Electorate that is White Working Class in Key States, 2015-2024
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