Economic Consequences of Immigration on Socioeconomic Activities

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Wages immigrants receive
Treatment by mainstream American society
Occupation of unskilled immigrants
Long-term socioeconomic mobility
The labor they provide
Works Cited

Introduction

Immigration from one country to another has an impact on the economic status of the host country. Mainly, immigration focuses on two aspects of the economy, which are effect of immigration on labor market and its effect on fiscal market. Immigration influences the labor market if it affects the distribution and size of the destination country.

The fiscal market looks at the consequences on the sustainability of the public budget through the contribution of the immigrants. Immigrants contribute to fiscal market through taxes and on the other hand, they receive public transfers, which in the end bring the problem of sustainability and distribution in the country (Polachek 2006).

Wages immigrants receive

Migrant workers receive very low income in the US. Immigrants who work in farms are the ones who are mostly affected. They work in the farms since farm work is available and their payment is under the table and below the minimum wage requirement. There are labor accusations about the amount of money paid to the immigrants with many advocating for low wages due to their inexperience.

Treatment by mainstream American society

There is an increased level of interest for immigrants by the community especially the local government due to their potential economic contribution. Community leaders also perceive immigrants as contributing to social cultural life due benefits such as cultural exchanges, foods and entertainment which in the end increase intercultural understanding. On the other hand, immigrants are perceived as security threats. They are people who are a threat to national security especially after the September 11 attack on the US (Polachek 2006).

Occupation of unskilled immigrants

Most of the immigrants represent a large number of people in the labor force. There is a common belief that immigrants do jobs that Americans will not do. They work in household services, fishing, farming, and forestry. Immigrants in these occupations are lowly paid and they work for very long hours.

Other occupations where immigrants work are in art and craft, repair and maintenance, precision production, administrative support, assemblers and machine operators. It is not true to say that immigrants only do jobs that not done by Americans. Immigrants have employment as doctors and nurses, in fast food stores and in retail outlets around the country (Smith 2009).

Long-term socioeconomic mobility

Economic migrants moving to America experience gains in income. Their occupational status in comparison to natives usually has a downward mobility at the point of migration. Due to this, they work in low income jobs and they face a lot of unemployment than the natives. This downward mobility caused by several factors. Most immigrants have no formal education and they lack experience thus employers do no look for them.

Second, many of them lack language skills to perform jobs. Therefore, they move down the occupational ladder to jobs that do not need communication. Other reasons for the social economic mobility are market failures. Immigrants have difficulty in obtaining credentials required in the market. Thirdly, most immigrants lack knowledge of local labor market or they lack networks that would connect them with jobs that need their skills.

The labor they provide

Most of the immigrants are ready to provide labor in all sectors. They are ready to accept low wages and, employers seek immigrants for their labor. Entry of immigrants in the labor market does not displace natives because they provide their labor in distinct sectors of the economy.

However, this assumption is highly flawed since the economy will not into two job types, one for natives, and the other for immigrants. It is difficult to draw a clear line between the type of jobs done by the natives and those done by immigrants. The unskilled immigrants provide flexible labor to many businesses. The immigrants have no expertise and therefore they do most of the manual jobs that are unskilled (Smith 2009).

Works Cited

Polachek, Solomon. The Economics of Immigration And Social Diversit, New York: Emerald Group Publishing, 2006. Print.

Smith, James . The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration. New York: National Academies Press, 2009. Print.

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