Immigration, Research Paper Example

Problem statement

One of the major issues United States faces is that of immigration. Immigrants have moved legally and illegally into most cities in the United States. The recent trends in immigration in the city of Boston have generated immense concern. The effects of immigration on the median household income in the metropolitan areas in the United States particularly Boston, are the motivation behind writing this paper.

In the United States, an immigrant is defined as a foreign-born person incarnating within its boundaries. This context encompasses documented persons, refugees and asylum seekers. Some definitions, particularly those from the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, disregard undocumented populace from the official government immigration records.

The major concerns in this paper are the repercussions of immigration on the economic conditions of the metropolitan city of Boston in the United States. It is very evident that immigration patterns have changed since the 60’s, and so the effects have revolved.

As a result of immense industrialization, the proportion of immigrants has increased tremendously. The inadequacy of data on the pattern of immigrants in the city of Boston has been the major drawback to addressing the situation. Data collected during censuses only applies as per the time collected. This is due to the ten-year duration before another census is conducted. The unreliable data is not adequate for fully legislation and implementation of laws regarding immigrants.

Immigrants contribute to the up surge of the household income in most Metropolitan cities where they mostly settle. This paper intends to address the increased household income in the metropolitan city of Boston where immigrants concentrate as compared to other cities.

Hypothesis

This paper addresses the question of the influence of immigrants on median household income for metropolitan areas in the United States. It hypothesizes that metropolitan areas with higher concentrations of immigrants will have higher median household income.

Research in Boston confirms that immigrants have not only bridged the job opportunities of U.S. natives, but they have also strengthened a number of sectors in big-city economies, comprising small business enterprises, construction, finance, manufacturing, international trade as well as import-export. Overall, fiscal influences of immigration on States and local governments have been negative, but there is still some evidence that fiscal impacts have been positive in cities suffering the cost of native-born inhabitants. The fringe cost of services to the immigrants is less in places with excess capacity in infrastructure and social service systems.

The economic contribution of immigrants on the median household income in the United States can be viewed from different angles including the labor market, city population, economies, fiscal health and neighborhoods. The following points are attributed to the increased median income in metropolitan area of the Boston and its likes.

The impact of immigration on metropolitan labor markets

The economic theory offers astoundingly categorical insight into the effects of immigration on employment and earnings patterns of U.S. natives. Even high levels of immigration are consistent with full employment in the United States. The U.S provides shifts in the prices of labor i.e. in wages, salaries, and fringe benefits, which brings the labor market to equilibrium. The most important measures of immigration on the labor market of natives are the effects on levels and distributions of earnings. There is a growing unanimity among economists that substantial levels of immigration may have only unassertively impact on the earnings of native workers. Research conducted by Borjas indicates that a ten percent increase in the United States work force today would lead to a decline in the labor market earnings by slightly three percent or less.

Due to the impact of disparities in education levels among foreign-born people, there is a noteworthy concentration of immigrants multifaceted in occupations requiring both comparatively high and low levels of education. Among such occupations that require high academic knowledge are teaching; a field in which immigrants work for more than one-fifth of the total hours in several subject areas, especially foreign languages. They also form part of the healthcare professions, including research and patient care. Immigrants account for higher proportions of workers in many fields requiring minimal formal education, working for about one-half of the work hours in such occupations as tailoring, dressmaking, housekeeping, and taxi drivers.

There is authentic apprehension that immigrants would probably increase the relative supplies of low skilled workers in Boston, reducing the earnings and opportunities of low-skilled and disadvantaged native workers. The tendency in the wage and unemployment rates of Boston workers between 1995 and 1997was analogous to that experienced by employees in other metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles, Houston, and Atlanta, which did not experience the Mariel flow. Miami for instance was successful absorption of a sudden incursion may have been due to unique factors. However, data obtained on the impact of immigration on the labor markets in large metropolitan cities are consistent.

Effects of immigration metropolitan urban economies

In addition to their unswerving influence on low-wage industries, such as attire manufacturing and brasseries, immigrant service workforces play substantial roles in maintaining business services and office industries in Boston. They create job opportunities in the entrepreneurial and small business sectors of the State. A useful preliminary point is the comparison of the composition of employment in metropolitan cities with large and small immigrant populaces. As among any inhabitant groups, immigrants influence city economies by increasing the supply of innumerable types of personnel and increasing demand for a diverse of goods and services.

Nevertheless, when immigrants lift employment in a sector more than native-born workers do, concentration ratios should positively correlate with the percentage of cities immigrant’s population. Concentration ratios should inversely relate to the foreign-born population if natives spur employment in the sector more than immigrants do. Industries that positively correlate with deliberations of immigrant workers include business services, construction, manufacturing, and personal service industries. Construction industries offer many low-paying, formal positions, particularly in nonunionized sectors, such as home enhancement activities. The business service industry hires both very high and low skilled employees. Less skilled immigrants offer support services to more advanced service and corporate industries.

Several other industries inversely correlate with absorptions of more immigrants in the industry. These industries include healthcare, communications, education and agricultural sectors. Healthcare demonstrates the double-edged nature of an industry designed for immigrants. This field employs sundry low-skilled employees, to provide personal care to patients and execute kitchen chores, as well as janitorial services. However, healthcare is somewhat expensive and often not affordable, it thus requires health insurance services be made affordable.

Immigration and Entrepreneurship

Indigenous entrepreneurship is one of the most discernible economic contributions of immigrants to cities. Research by Rodgers indicates that entrepreneurial activities among immigrants reflect differences between immigrants and U.S. Boston populaces in economic opportunities and peculiar characteristics. Successful immigrant entrepreneurs, generally ascertain market niches in which they can operate profitably. One common identified niche is in retail outlets in minority communities. In addition, immigrant-owned businesses also constellate in economic sectors.

Effects of immigration on international trade

Immigrants-owned businesses are far more than native based businesses, which have little impact on the economic base of the communities. Immigrants reinforce U.S. international finance and trade affiliations on the immigrant’s home countries or regions. There are nations with which the United States has little commerce with and in which cultural practices and business practices contrast. Overtime, immigrants gradually increase the amount of products exported to their home countries. An upsurge in trade occurs almost immediately, however, since immigrants spur imports of goods they lack from home. Those arriving early have the prevalent impact; the effect weakens by the time late-arriving immigrants assimilate an already established large community.

From a study of the factors likely to influence the median household income in metropolitan areas, in this case Boston, we conclude that immigrants influence the household income positively since they are actively engaged in economic activities. A growth in the economy implies that the median household income is also high. Boston’s economic conditions are boosted by the immigrants in the metropolitan city.

Data

The United States census conducted in 2000 was the states twenty- second census. A census usually involves the actual counting instead of using samples. Data collected from a census is important since it succors by state officials in drafting legislations crucial in the overall economic development in the States. One of the vital information obtained from a census is that of immigrants. Immigration has become a menace not only in the United States but also across the globe.

Immigrants have both positive and negative impacts relating to the economic conditions of a State. Data collected from the census was substantial in revealing the relationship of the concentration of immigrants and the median household income of the three hundred and eighty nine metropolitan states in the United States. From the results, twenty-five percent of the entire population comprised of non-American whites. This implies that a portion of this group comprised of immigrants. Actual data revealed that actual median household income upsurge gradually across the years. Form actual figures of the median household income approximated at $40,442 though the figure has gone up presently. In 1999, the real median household in the States stood at its peak. However, the median household income tended to differ across regions. This was because there are different ethnic groups and their presence in metropolitan areas. This implied that different metropolitan cities had different median household figures. It evidenced that the median household figures in areas where immigrants were concentrated tended to be high since immigrants played a vital role in boosting the economic conditions of their respective areas.

In a subsequent analysis, the concentrations of Latino and Asian immigrants are analyzed separately to identify if any differences in immigrant origin exist among metropolitan economies. The Latinos since in memorial dominated the immigration field in the United States. Only recently have the Asians dominated the field. The influx migration of Asians in America reveals the legality of migration. American employers have changed their demand of employees to require high skilled workers with the majority coming from Asia. Latin migrants have been sliced due to the stress on academic knowledge. The American economy transformed from a manufacturing economy to technology- based economy, which explains the decline in Latinos and an increase in Asian immigrants. In 1999, Latino migrants comprised the majority of immigrants in the United States. The concentration of both Latino- Americans and Asian-Americans differs in their places of settlement. Due to their influence in the economy, it becomes quite evident that before the 2000 census, the Latin-Americans were concentrated in metropolitan cities of the States. This also implied that the median household income was higher in such areas.

The shift in the Asian migration into the United States is a positive impact of the immigration policy drafted in 1990 that favored the flow of wealth into the country.

Metropolitan economies differ especially in relation to the group dominating the region. From the data collected about these facts in the 2000 census, it is evident that metropolitan cities dominated by Asians reported a higher median household income as compared to those dominated by Latin immigrants. Though both groups positively contribute to the upsurge of the entire nation’s economy, regional figures tend to differ significantly.

We can thereby conclude that the concentration of immigrants greatly affects the median household income in the metropolitan cities and in return increasing the entire income in the country.