The Economic Benefits from Immigration

T he rapid increase in the size of the immigrant flow reaching the United States, the major changes in the national origin composition of the immigrant population, and the decline in the skills of immigrants relative to the skills of native workers have rekindled the debate over immigration policy. The current debate revives the old concerns over immigrants "taking jobs away" from native workers and finding it difficult to adapt in the American economy, as well as questions whether immigrants pay their way in the welfare state. A large literature investigates each of these issues in detail; Borjas (1994) offers a survey. The empirical evidence indicates that more recent immigrant waves will remain economically disadvantaged throughout their working lives; that this disadvantage may be partly transmitted to their offspring; that recent immigrants are more likely to participate in welfare programs than natives; and that immigration may have contributed to the increase in wage inequality observed during the 1980s. Table 1 summarizes some of the key trends in immigrant skills and welfare participation. The relative educational attainment of successive immigrant waves fell dramatically in recent decades. In 1970, the typical immigrant who had just arrived in the United States had 11.1 years of schooling, as compared to 11.5 years for the typical native worker. By 1990, the typical immigrant who had just