First-Generation Immigrants’ Costs To The Economy Are Offset By Their Adult Children

Two new studies quantify the impact of immigrants on government spending and the economy.

By Jill AmentJuly 12, 2017 1:48 pm,

Immigration is  a long-term investment for the government, and the economy as a whole, according to new research.

A new study from the Urban Institute, and a more extensive report from the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine found that second-generation immigrant adults contribute more to the economy, on average, than native-born citizens.

Kim Rueben, a senior fellow at the Urban Institute, who co-authored her organization’s report and contributed to the National Academy of Sciences study, says that initial costs associated with migration come from educating a larger number of immigrant children. These costs are neutralized by greater contributions from those children when they become adults.

Rueben says that the reports were intended to fill a gap in the rhetoric about immigration, by providing statistics.

“We seem to be going to a place where people are less likely to want to look at numbers and facts and sort of want to go by their gut more,” she says.

The reports provide an exhaustive set of numbers, weighing in at over 600 pages, combined.

What you’ll hear in this segment:

– Why higher costs are associated with immigrants

– How the report distinguishes between natives and immigrants

– How analysts broke down and assigned costs

Written by Lila Weatherly.