Once upon a time, Americans made lots of babies. Of course, one reason for that was that birth control wasn't so easy. But, in an agricultural society with relatively high infant and child mortality rates, it made sense for married couples to have larger families. Such families produced the workers needed to keep farms productive and food on the table.
Not so today. Nowadays, Americans aren't having enough children to replenish those who leave the workforce due to retirement or who die, as eventually happens to everybody.
This lower birthrate is one factor creating jobs for foreign workers, legal and illegal, who come to this country.
But, according to demographers, birthrates are decreasing rapidly in every part of the world, especially in Mexico. All of which means that, if current trends continue, sometime later this century, America's big problem may not be illegal immigrants swarming over our borders, but too few Americans and too few foreigners taking all those jobs that need doing if our society is to function and our hospitals and nursing homes--places that members of my Baby Boomer generation will increasingly frequent in coming years--are to operate optimally.
Don't be surprised if soon Congress debates putting incentives for Americans to have larger families into our tax code. Since it seems that soon the world will stop sending workers our way, the answer to America's future work force needs may be for Americans to make more babies.
Listen to the interview you'll find under "Immigration Demographics" here.
No comments:
Post a Comment