Immigrants and Economic Development
Immigration:
- Fuels economic development
- Acts as a catalyst for international trade and investment
- Enriches our cultural landscape
- Strengthens real estate markets
- Serves as a basis for foreign trade and investment
Immigrants are More Likely...
- Not to be unemployed
- To save more of their earnings
- To start new businesses. (11.6% of immigrant men and 7.2% of immigrant women own businesses, vs. 10.4% of native-born men and 5.6% of native-born women).
- In 2001,19% of all U.S. patents were issued to immigrants or immigrants collaborating with U.S.-born inventors.
Foreign Born Citizens:
- Contribute $6,580 per year in taxes compared with $5,070 for native born families.
- Utilize public assistance at lower rates than native born Americans (In 1999, 2% of immigrants reported welfare income compared with 3.7% of native born Americans)
Toward a New Pennsylvania
- Immigration is the trend of now for many urban areas and States and will be the trend of future for those that continue to grow
- Pennsylvania can take part in this future of growth by recognizing the opportunities immigration provides
More than a million immigrants are expected to arrive in the U.S. every year between now and 2010, representing nearly every country around the globe. New arrivals will start businesses, work in the service sector, and contribute to scientific discoveries. They will continue the immigrant tradition of becoming a vital part of the fabric of our communities and our economy.
In addition to adding to our culture, immigration touches every facet of the U.S. economy, creating a positive economic impact and helping to create our future.
Did you know:
- ...cities such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Charlotte, and Las Vegas benefited solidly from drawing immigrants. Chicago and Boston for example, each reversed a 50-year population decline through fresh additions to their Latino and Asian communities. (National Academy of Public Administration)
- Over the next 50 years, legal immigrants will add $407 billion to the Social Security system. (The Economics of Necessity: Economic Report of the President Underscores the Importance of Immigration; Walter A. Ewing, Ph.D.)
- Philadelphia ranked 9th as the top ten U.S. Metropolitan areas of Immigrant Men Business Owners in 2000 (American Immigration Law Foundation)
- In the U.S., immigrants start 18% of new businesses, which account for up to 80 percent of new jobs created. (City Paper)
- Immigrant women of the post-1960's wave of immigration comprise one of the fastest growing groups of business owners in the United States. (Read the Immigraton Policy Center's 2005 report on "Today's Immigrant Woman Entrepreneur.")
- Immigrants have a slightly-higher per capita income than natives and a slightly-lower household income, but their income levels rise over time (American Immigration Lawyers Association)
- At the individual level, the legal foreign-born immigrant in New York generates $6,300 in annual tax contributions vs. $6,500 for the native-born New Yorker (Urban Institute)
- Ignoring foreign-born workers' contributions because of bias can cost companies as much as 25% of an eight-hour workday. (Ed Hubbard, Consultant)
The contribution of immigrants is clear. Immigrants pay taxes, stabilize shrinking populations, facilitate economic growth, revitalize neighborhoods, replenish work forces, nullify effects of out-migration, and increase property values.
Consider:
- Older cities - like Philadelphia - have discovered that immigrants have made up for the population loss that has resulted from middle class whites and blacks departing for the suburbs.
- Immigrants are 50% more likely than Americans to have a graduate degree.
- Almost 25% of all U.S. residents holding PhDs in science and engineering are foreign-born. ("A Rich Stew in the Melting Pot" BusinessWeek, Howard Gleckman.)
- Immigrant women represent one of the fastest growing groups of new business owners in the United States. As of January of this year, more than 560,000 immigrant women started and now run their own businesses employing others, are paying taxes, and are reinvigorating their economies.
- Nationally, 56% of all immigrant women entrepreneurs live in a household that has a mortgage, or is under contract to buy, according to the American Immigration Law Foundation.
From an employer perspective, language differences, cultural issues, educational differences and more can make the hiring process intimidating. But immigrants not only add to productivity, bringing new skills and talents, they can also help to broaden an organization's scope and view, helping to increase a company's ability to compete. The role of immigration in economic development is undisputable. Their contribution to our culture and our lifestyle is positive and undeniable. It's just that simple.
For the Center for Workforce Information & Analysis (CWIA) site, including information on PA Work Stats and other available resources, please click here.
As 43 million Americans relocate every year, immigrants are stepping in to replenish the populations and work forces of America's major cities, keeping them alive and vibrant.
-American Immigration Law Foundation
Did You Know...
From October 1 2004 through September 30 2005, the Philadelphia District Office of the USCIS, which covers Philadelphia, West Virginia and Delaware, naturalized 16,300 people.
