Births to Immigrants in AmericaAnalysis of birth records shows that in 2002 almost one in four births in the United States was to an
1970 to 2002
July 2005
By Steven A. Camarota
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County and MSA Data
immigrant mother, legal and illegal, the highest level in American history. The enormous number and proportion of children from immigrant families may overwhelm the assimilation process, making it difficult to integrate these new second-generation Americans. At present, the U.S. government automatically gives American citizenship to all people born in the country, even the children of tourists and illegal aliens.1
Among the study's findings:
* In 2002, 23 percent of all births in the United States were to immigrant mothers (legal or illegal), compared to 15 percent in 1990, 9 percent in 1980, and 6 percent in 1970.
* Even at the peak of the last great wave of immigration in 1910, births to immigrant mothers accounted for a slightly smaller share than today. After 1910 immigration was reduced, but current immigration continues at record levels, thus births to immigrants will continue to increase.
* Our best estimate is that 383,000 or 42 percent of births to immigrants are to illegal alien mothers. Births to illegals now account for nearly one out of every 10 births in the United States.
* The large number of births to illegals shows that the longer illegal immigration is allowed to persist, the harder the problem is to solve. Because as U.S. citizens these children can stay permanently, their citizenship can prevent a parent's deportation, and once adults they can sponsor their parents for permanent residence.
* The large number of children born to illegals also shows that a "temporary" worker program is unrealistic because it would result in hundreds of thousands of permanent additions to the U.S. population each year, exactly what such a program is supposed to avoid.
* Overall, immigrant mothers are much less educated than native mothers. In 2002, 39 percent of immigrant mothers lacked a high school education, compared to 17 percent of native mothers. And immigrants now account for 41 percent of births to mothers without a high school degree.
* The dramatic growth in births to immigrants has been accompanied by a decline in diversity. In 1970, the top country for immigrant births -- Mexico -- accounted for 24 percent of births to immigrants, by 2002 it was 45 percent.
* As a share of all births in the country, Mexican immigrants accounted for one in 10 births in 2002. No single foreign country has ever accounted for such a large share of births.
* In 2002, births to Hispanic immigrants accounted for 59 percent of all births to immigrant mothers. No single cultural/linguistic group has ever accounted for such a large share of births to immigrants.
* The states with the most dramatic increase in births to immigrants in the last decade are Georgia, North Carolina, Nevada, Nebraska, Arkansas, Arizona, Tennessee, Minnesota, Colorado, Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland
* Immigrants account for such a large percentage of births because they have somewhat higher fertility and are more likely to be in their reproductive years than natives. However, the difference with natives is not large enough to significantly affect the nation's overall age structure.
* Immigrants who have arrived in the last two decades plus all of their U.S.-born children have only reduced the average age in the United States from 37 to 36 years.
* Looking at the working age share (15 to 64) of the population also shows little effect from immigration. With or without post-1980 immigrants and their U.S.-born children, 66 percent of the population is of working age.
* While immigration has little effect on the nation's age structure, new immigrants (legal and illegal) plus births to immigrants add some 2.3 million people to the nation's population each year, making for a much larger overall population.
Introduction
It is difficult to imagine a government program that has a more profound impact on society than immigration. Large numbers of immigrants and their descendants cannot help but shape the destiny of the country in which they settle. (The terms "immigrant" and "foreign born" are used synonymously in this report.) Even after the original immigrant dies or returns home, his children and descendants will continue to exert a powerful influence on their new country's demographic, political, economic, and cultural life. Examining births to immigrants is therefore important, because it is a way of measuring the scale of immigration and its impact on American society. This is especially true because the U.S. government has chosen to award American citizenship to all persons born in the United States, including those born to temporary visitors or even illegal aliens. As citizens, it seems almost certain that the vast majority of these children will live in America.
Why Study Immigrant Births?
Public Expenditures on Children. All levels of government provide services to children. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the effect of immigration policy on the number of children being born in the United States in order to better anticipate spending on services, especially public schools. Children from immigrant families may also have needs that are different from those of children from native families. Given the large share of births to immigrants, how these children integrate into American society is critically important to the future of the country. Thus a better understanding of immigration's impact on births is necessary so that government may better meet the needs of these children.
Assimilating the Children of Immigrants. There are now more than 30 million immigrants living in the country. It is sometimes suggested that because immigrants are now so numerous it lowers their interaction with natives and reduces their need to integrate fully into American society. Advocates of high immigration often respond that immigrants account for a smaller share of the population today than during the peak of the last great wave of immigration, yet those immigrants integrated successfully. These advocates seem to be saying that the relative sizes of the immigrant and native population matter, but we have not reached the level of the last great wave, so there is little reason to worry.
Of course, given the enormous changes in the world, it is not clear that comparing current immigration with that of a century ago makes sense. Nor is it clear that the very peak level of immigration, which itself was unusual in American history, is the best point of comparison. Nonetheless, it is true that at the very peak of the last great wave in 1910, the foreign born were a larger share of the total population -- about 15 percent versus 12 percent today. However, examining births to immigrants is relevant to the assimilation debate because it is another way of measuring the scale of immigration and its impact on American society.
Although children born to immigrants are by definition natives, the number and share they represent of all births may have some bearing on how they assimilate. After all, if births to immigrants comprise a very large share of all births, then children from immigrant families may tend to interact primarily with each other, having little contact with the children of natives. As a result, foreign cultural norms, values, and even identities may be dominant among these children. Of course, the fact that a very large share of children may come from immigrant families does not necessarily prove that assimilation will be less complete, since assimilation is a multifaceted and complex process. But the issue of births to immigrants certainly is germane to the debate over the likely course of assimilation.
Research on the Second Generation. The changing share of immigrant births is important because it may help us to better understand how things are changing for the children of immigrants. Researchers often examine the assimilation of adults who had immigrant parents, referred to as second-generation Americans. But the environment in which such individuals grew up may have fundamentally changed. For example, an American born three decades age to immigrant parents was raised in a country where only about one out of 20 U.S.-born children had a foreign-born mother compared to one in four today. The situation for the children of Mexican immigrants is even more striking. In 1970, 54,000 children were born to Mexican immigrant mothers and they accounted for 1.5 percent of all births. In 2002, 408,000 children were born to Mexican immigrant mothers, accounting for 10.1 percent of all births. This change likely will have significant impact on the childhood experience for these children. A person born to immigrants 30 years ago may have grown up with relatively very little contact with other children whose mothers came from the same country. But given the enormous growth in numbers, a child born to an immigrant today may have a very different sense of identity. We at least need to be aware of how things have changed when thinking about the experiences of second-generation Americans.
Characteristics of Those Having Children. Another reason to examine births to immigrants is that it provides some insight into the environment that the children of immigrants are being born into. For example, data are available on the education level of each child's mother. Education is important because it is the single best indicator of income and overall socio-economic status. Parental education levels are also a good predictor of how much education the child will ultimately obtain. Thus, examining characteristics such as education provides important clues to the life prospects of these children, and how they may differ from those born to native mothers.
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