Conference Paper

The impact of demographic change on U. S. labor markets

Abstract: According to the U. S. Census Bureau projections, the United States will face dramatic demographic changes over the next one hundred years. Indeed, the country will be entering largely uncharted territory. In the twenty-first century, the population is expected to grow more slowly than ever before over an extended period. The population will also age rapidly, with the share of the population over 65 climbing to a succession of new record highs. Finally, the United States will once again become a nation of immigrants. Over the past decade, the wave of new immigrants has already neared proportions last seen in the early 1900s at the end of the Great Migrations. And this inflow is projected to persist throughout the coming century, with new immigrants and the children of those immigrants contributing well over half of the increase in the U. S. population. Because the source of this inflow has shifted from Europe to Latin America and Asia, this new wave will change the voice and face of America forever.

Status: Published in Seismic shifts: the economic impact of demographic change

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Part of Series: Conference Series ; [Proceedings]

Publication Date: 2001

Volume: 46