Foreign-born workers in U.S to rise from 16% to 20% of workforce

 

But will take 26 years….growing for the next 15 years, then the pace slows down a lot.

Per the Census Bureau, the total population of the U.S. is expected to grow from about 319M in 2014 to 359M in 2030 and 380 in 2040, an increase of 19% over the space of 26 years – pretty slow. The working age population (15 through 64) will grow by 12%, even slower.

Foreign-born residents have a higher rate of job participation. That’s likely because they come immigrate often for work. They are more concentrated in working age brackets (80% between 18 and 64, vs. 62% native born – see here and here).

This means that even modest increases in the foreign born population will result in higher shares of employment for these workers.

In 2014, foreign-born persons accounted for 13% of the general population, 15% of persons between 15 and 64 years old, and 16% of the workforce. (That’s 24 million foreign born workers.) In 2030, the Census Bureau projects they will account for about 16% of the population, which implies that foreign workers will then account for 19% of the workforce. By 2040, per the Census Bureau, the foreign born share of the total population will be about 17%, a moderation in the rate of growth. They will be one fifth of the workforce.

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