Сетевое издание

Международный студенческий научный вестник

ISSN 2409-529X

21st century is the age of mobility. The global estimate is that in 2013 there were 232 million migrants [5], meaning persons living outside their country of birth or citizenship for more than one year. But that is an under-count, not accounting for millions of short-term, temporary and seasonal migrants who do not change country of registered residence [10].

Migration today is about internationalized labor and skills mobility in the globalized world. More than 90 % of all migration is bound up in employment and economic activity outcomes [10].

Migration plays an important role in sustaining socioeconomic development of destination counties. Migration processes also have a significant influence on national competitiveness [13].

As globalization increases, many people have moved to other countries and are still moving. The United States of America is one of the most attractive countries for migrants, being the destination country for the biggest number of international migrants. In 2000 there were 36 million migrants and in 2013 this number had increased to 46 million people (see figure 1).

USA is well-known to be a country with a wide variety of chances to find a job and build a career, a highly-competitive economy with developed banking sector, infrastructure, high-level of education and medicine. Let›s take a closer look at the reasons why does the U.S. economy needs immigrants, and what creates the growing demand for foreign workers.

First of all, immigrants are vital for maintaining a strong workforce, with more than one-third of U.S. population growth attributed to the arrival of new immigrants [8]. By 2050, 93 percent of the growth of the U.S. working-age population will be accounted for by immigrants and their children [9].

Secondly, migrant workers allow the USA to maintain viability and competitiveness of agriculture, construction, health care, hotel, restaurant and tourism and other sectors (similar situation is observed in many other countries, including Russia). That is a result of lower wages that migrant workers agree to accept compared to country nationals. That holds companies› costs from rising and makes the prices of goods or services produced lower and more competitive in the market.

Thirdly, there are demographic challenges that USA is already facing. The U.S. population is aging, and without immigrants, the U.S. will not have enough new workers to support retirees. Seventy years ago, there were 150 workers for every 20 seniors; 10 years ago, there were 100 workers per 20 seniors. By 2050, there will only be 56 workers for every 20 seniors [11]. Immigrants will be critical to filling future labor gaps, with 76 million baby boomers retiring and only 46 million U.S.-born workers entering the workforce by 2030 [2].

Fourthly, some estimates show that by 2030, the USA will need to add 25 million workers to the labor force to sustain current levels of economic growth [6]. Without migrants, that may lead to unfilled jobs and talent shortages, and as a result, impede economic growth.

Fifthly, despite the unemployment that was quite high in certain years (see figure 2), for many employers it is a constant challenge to find the qualified staff to fill in certain positions. That is especially true for top managerial and mission-critical positions, as well as science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) jobs requiring an advanced degree. The foreign born represent about a quarter of all the scientists and engineers in the United States.

Figure 1. Top 10 Countries with the largest numbers of international migrants, 2000 and 2013. Source: [5]

Figure 2. Unemployment rate in the USA, in percent ( %), 2005–2015. Source: [12]

Finally, immigrants that come from different countries usually keep to maintain relations with their home countries. These international linkages create global business and trade opportunities. That in turn boosts economy and stimulates international trade. Increasing immigration has been correlated with rising trade in international comparative studies that show a 10 percent increase in a country’s number of immigrants increased the volume of trade by 1–2 percent [3]. This would appear to hold true for the USA.

Looking at countries of origin from where migrants come to the USA, it is interesting to look at the difference between migrants from Mexico and from China.

Mexicans are the largest group of international migrants in the USA. About 1 in 10 Mexicans now live (whether in regular or in irregular status) in the United States. Most of them are in the working age. Mexican workers in the USA are mostly engaged in low-skilled employment, such as work at cafes, restaurants and hotels, construction, cleaning, agriculture, etc. Mexicans make up about half of all unauthorized immigrants in the USA (49 %), though their numbers have been declining in recent years. There were 5.6 million Mexican unauthorized immigrants living in the U.S. in 2014, down from 6.4 million in 2009 [9].

In recent years there was an increasing number of Chinese immigrants. Compared to the overall foreign- and native-born populations, Chinese immigrants are more highly educated, more likely to be employed, and have a higher household income. In the 2009–2013, the U.S. cities with the largest number of Chinese immigrants were the greater New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles metropolitan areas. These three metropolitan areas accounted for about 46 percent of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Chinese immigrants were much more likely to be employed in management, business, science, and arts occupations (51 percent) compared to the other two groups [4].

One of the challenges of migration governance in the USA is dealing with irregular migration. There were 11.3 million unauthorized immigrants in the U.S. in 2014. The population has remained essentially stable for five years, and currently makes up 3.5 % of the nation’s population. The number of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2007 at 12.2 million, when this group was 4 % of the U.S. population. Unauthorized immigrants make up 5.1 % of the U.S. labor force. In the U.S. labor force, there were 8.1 million unauthorized immigrants either working or looking for work in 2012. Among the states, Nevada (10 %), California (9 %), Texas (9 %) and New Jersey (8 %) had the highest shares of unauthorized immigrants in their labor forces [7].