Washington, D.C. — Today, the Center for American Progress released a new video and several interactive tools that detail the vital role immigrants will play in our future workforce. Drawing from the conclusions of the groundbreaking “Our Future, Together” report, this multimedia project illustrates what a critical role immigrants will play in our long-term economic strength and sustainability.
As Americans wait for the House of Representatives to move forward on immigration reform, the new video and interactives from CAP examine what reform would mean for our country’s future. The “Our Future, Together” initiative looks at the long-term impact that immigration will have on our labor force and economic future. The report’s findings show that immigrants are essential for our growth as a nation and that we are currently at a critical moment for reforming immigration. The aging and retirement of the Baby Boomer generation is set to create a need for new workers in the labor market—a role that immigrants, their children, and their grandchildren will help fill. The report finds the following workforce trends in the coming years:
- Baby Boomers currently comprise more than 38 percent of the total workforce, and by 2030, 45 million of them will have retired.
- From 2010 to 2030, there will be 83 million workforce entrants. Two-thirds of these people will replace retiring workers, and one-third will be employed due to economic growth.
- Of the 83 million workforce entrants, more than 31 million will be immigrants and their children.
The retirement of the Baby Boomer generation will create millions of replacement job openings, even as economic growth creates the need for additional workers to fill newly created jobs. At the same time, our nation is becoming more demographically diverse, and immigrants and their children make up a growing share of the population that will be entering their prime working years over the next two decades.
Watch the short video here.
Explore the interactive tools here.
Learn More about the “Our Future, Together” project here.
To speak with experts on this issue, please contact Crystal Patterson at [email protected] or 202.478.6350.
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