Immigration and Median Income in Boston, Essay Example

Introduction

Since time memorial, migration has been an important facet of the human race. Through migration, people could pursue, achieve and satisfy their needs, wants, desires and passions. Migration has evolved through the years and so have the reasons and purposes for migration. Most economies that host immigrants from other nationalities have them to have varying effects on their socio-economic structures and models over time. Immigrants have either of two intentions when moving into a country not native to them; (1) to move as permanent residents, or (2) to move with the aim of becoming future citizens (Motomura). These factors largely influence the kind of activities that they would engage in, whether short-term or long-term, thus directly affecting the economy of the host nation.

One of the most important indicators of economic growth and development is median income. Median income is generally affected by immigration by virtue of employment that is directly influenced by immigration. As a result of the effects of immigration on the economy, governments engage in the establishment and enforcement of immigration laws that seek to protect the economy from negative implications of the immigration. Immigration laws are put in place to help protect a nation’s local industries from influx in labor from foreign nations. This helps ensure a manageable unemployment rate. However, in developed nations such as the United States and the United Kingdom, there are certain “odd jobs” that the natives of the country in question would not prefer undertaking. In such situations the immigration laws would be set to encourage foreigners into the nation. This applies for nations with an ageing population, common in Eastern Europe. Such laws would ensure a stronger economy by coupling ingenuity and talents of immigrants.

Discussion

The research revealed the relationship between immigration and median income, as well as the relationship between immigration and other factors that affect median income.

Population change is a useful indicator of the state of immigration within the different cities analyzed by the study. While population change is considered a considerable factor that defines immigration and affects employment, it was found that population change had varying effects in a number of the cities that were studied. This is largely dependent on a number of socio-economic factors that are specific to a given cities. Boston record the thirteenth highest population change out of the 45 cities studied. During the same period, Boston was ranked 20^th in terms of unemployment. Population change or immigration is crucial factor that affects employment within any of the given cities, but it is not sufficient to solely affect employment.

The effect of population change on employment largely differs from one city to another, a difference that is affected by the level of education within the different states. Cities that recorded a higher population with college degrees were characterized by generally low levels of unemployment. However, when this factor is compounded by a considerable positive change in population, the city realizes higher levels of unemployment. These factors work against each other and the balance between the two determines the level of unemployment within the given metropolitan area.

Boston, as depicted by the study, depicted the highest level of the number of college graduates within its population. This is expected to have a characteristically low level of unemployment. However, the high levels of immigration characterized by a considerable positive population change has effected unemployment, depicting average levels of unemployment () as opposed to the expected low levels () (Chomsky).

A vital metric to the effect that immigration has on the median income of a metropolitan area is the portion of the population that is foreign born. While immigration is generally the movement of individuals within a given area, the portion of the population that is not native to the metropolitan area indicates the true effect of immigration on the economy of the metropolitan area. Areas that depicted high numbers of foreign born residents were characterized by varying median incomes. As suggested earlier, this is owing to the socio-economic conditions that may be specific to a metropolitan area.

Boston recorded the fourth largest portion of the population that is foreign born and the highest median income in all metropolitan areas studied. However, these metropolitan areas depicted higher levels of foreign born residents and low levels of median income.  Boston is a particularly interesting city because of the demographic within the city. The city of Boston is predominantly comprised of young adults and middle-age persons. This is owing to the fact that the city is home to a host of tertiary education institutions. These age brackets within the economy are usually the dominant within the labor market, directly affecting employment.

Comparing the city of Boston to the 44 metropolitan areas studied, one can conclude that other are a number of inter-related factors that affect the median income of a metropolitan area. One of the most important is the level of education, followed by population change and unemployment. The number of foreign born residents has an increasing or decreasing effect on median income when the level of education is considerably low. This affects unemployment, indirectly influencing the median income of the metropolitan area.

Works Cited

Camarota, Steven A. Immigrants in the United States: A Profile of America’s Foreign-Born Population. Washington: Center for Immigration Studies, 2012.

Chapman, Jeff and Jared Bernstein. “immigration and Poverty: How are tThey Linked.” Monthly Labor Review (2003): 10-15. 13 April 2015. <http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2003/04/art2full.pdf>.

Chomsky, Aviva. Undocumented : how immigration became illegal. Boston: Beacon Press, 2014.

Eibner, Christine. “Immigration and the Median Voter’s Incentive to Redistribute Income in the United States.” American Economic Review 90 (2000): 96-129.

Kandel, William A. The U.S. Foreign-Born Population: Trends and Selected Characteristics. Library of Congress. Washington: Congressional Research Service, 2011. 13 April 2015. <http://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R41592.pdf>.

Motomura, Hiroshi. Immigration outside the law. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Student Immigrant Movement. SIM Camp 2015. 10 April 2015. <http://www.simforus.com/>.