How Immigrants Create Jobs

For many years Americans have addressed the issue of immigrants as a threat to the economy as they take away jobs from natives of the United States. People state that immigrants will work for lower wages and in worse conditions than a native, which makes them more desirable to employ. But, is this assumption accurate? Or do immigrants actually create jobs and help the economy of the United States? Research is now stating that immigration and unemployment are unrelated. Immigrants actually create jobs and boost the economy by purchasing goods from native businesses and by creating their own businesses (Value Added).

These are just two examples of how immigrants help to create jobs in the United States. They also tend to compliment native workers as they are skilled in different areas and a small wage increase happens for the native workers because of this. Immigrants are more likely than a native to get an education in science and math programs. According to Tamar Jacoby in her article “Most Immigrants Create Jobs” she states, “60 to 70 percent of the students in American computer science and electrical engineering graduate programs are foreign-born” (Jacoby).

America cannot afford to allow these immigrants with such great skill to work in competing countries. Immigrants help create jobs with their purchasing power, ability and likeness to create businesses, and with their specialized skills that compliment that of a native worker. Immigrants boost the demand for local goods and services, allowing for more jobs to be created. It is quite simple. The more immigrants, the more money spent on American made goods. This calls for a higher demand of goods, which creates more jobs for those goods to be produced.

Immigrants put money back into the United States economy by using their wages earned to purchase items such as food, clothing, cars, etc. Businesses see this relationship between new workers and more money being spent, so they invest in new restaurants, stores, and production facilities (Value Added). These new businesses create more jobs for more workers. In Jason Furman’s article, “Ten Ways Immigrants Help Build and Strengthen Our Economy”, he states, “The Immigration Policy Center estimates that the purchasing power of Latinos and Asians, many of whom are immigrants, alone will reach $1. trillion and $775 billion, respectively, by 2015” (Furman). Due to immigrants generally relocating to the United States in search for work, they are much more driven than a native and more likely to begin a new business. In a study conducted by the Small Business Administration, it shows that immigrants are thirty percent more likely to start a business in the United States than a native, and also that eighteen percent of small business owners in American are immigrants (Furman). These immigrant owned businesses create new positions to be filled for more workers.

Being self-employed is also not taking away from the native people’s ability to obtain a job, but is helping them. Immigrants make up one percent more of self-employed individuals than natives of the United States (Furman). Not only do these immigrants created business create jobs, but also generate income which will eventually lead to more demand therefore even more jobs for workers. “According to the Fiscal Policy Institute, small businesses owned by immigrants employed an estimated 4. 7 million people in 2007, and according to the latest estimates, these small businesses generated more than $776 billion annually” (Furman).

Not only do immigrants boost the demand for goods and create businesses, they also have specialized skills that complement the jobs of a native worker. These immigrants with specialized skills are often put into two categories, both of which create jobs for native workers. The first is that with only a high school education. Due to many immigrants not having more than an education of a high school diploma when they first arrive in the United States, the wages increase for natives with a college education.

Therefore, the more immigration, the more the wages are increased for individuals with an education higher than that of a high school diploma. The different levels of education between these immigrants and natives also produce a wage increase because the jobs they perform are frequently interdependent and complementary, which increases the productivity of natives (Value Added). The second group of immigrants with specialized skills is that of those with a college education. These immigrants often obtain degrees in engineering, computer science, and mathematics.

Obtaining these degrees does not interfere with the career opportunities of natives because Americans are not likely to get an education in these areas. The American Enterprise Institute and the Partnership for a New American Economy conducted a study in December of 2011. Data in this study was used from the years 2000 to 2007. The results state that, “every 100 foreign-born workers who worked in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and who had advanced degrees from U. S. universities, were associated with an additional 262 jobs for native-born workers” (Value Added).

The study also found “that states with greater numbers of temporary workers in the H-1B program for skilled workers and H-2B program for less-skilled nonagricultural workers had higher employment among US natives” (Value Added). The United States is a nation that was founded on immigrants. Throughout the years Americans are learning that immigrants make the nation stronger as a whole. President Barack Obama states that “No other nation in the world welcomes so many new arrivals” (Furman). Due to the fact that American does welcome so many new arrivals, this causes American to stay one of the leading countries in the world.

Bringing in different levels of skill to complement the skill already here keeps America on top and leading the way in new technologies and careers. Immigrants not only contribute to the technologies to create more jobs, but also help create more jobs by simply spending their wages earned on American made goods and services. With all of this information available, it would be hard to disagree that immigrants help create more jobs and lower unemployment rather than taking away jobs from native individuals.