DEMOGRAPHICS

The Most Important Demographic Percentage to Know for 2050

By Jody Brannon

Updated: February 7, 2013 | 4:54 p.m.
February 7, 2013 | 4:53 p.m.

Dreamers seeking to remain in the U.S. may be the foundation of the nation's workforce. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

The Pew Research Center released a 130-page report Thursday titled “Second-Generation Americans: A Portrait of the Adult Children of Immigrants” (pdf).

In coming days we’ll delve deeper into the report, but here’s the topline statistic that shapes our future as a melting-pot nation, looking two generations out:

93% 

of the growth of the U.S. working-age population by 2050
will be immigrants and their U.S.-born children. 

 

"Immigrant stock," the report says of first- and second-generation combined, may grow by more than 47 percent, from 76 million to 160 million in a little more than 35 years.

Beyond that astounding number, the research delves into attitudes about identity, economics, interactions, success, and politics.

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Jody Brannon | Editor, Next America
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Virtually every issue the United States contends with promises to be affected by deep currents of change illuminated by demographic shifts. With The Next America, National Journal unveils an unprecedented effort to explore the significant political, economic and social impact of profound racial and cultural changes.

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The Story That Started It All

In 2010, Ronald Brownstein wrote The Gray and the Brown: A Generational Mismatch about America’s shift to an older, more ethnically diverse population and how these changes affect us as a nation.