移民维持美国生育率不至于下降

Immigrants Keep U.S. Birth Rates from Dropping 移民维持美国生育率不至于下降

In the United States, immigrants are keeping birth rates from dropping.

That information comes from a new study. The Pew Research Center, an independent research group, reported the finding.

According to the study, U.S.-born women gave birth to 3.10 babies in 2014. That is down from the 3.46 million born in 1970.

Since that year, births to immigrant women have jumped by more than 300 percent. It reached 901,000 births in 2014.

More Babies Born to Asian Immigrants

Pew’s researchers say more than half of the foreign-born mothers are from nine countries and one U.S. territory. Those countries include Mexico, China, India, El Salvador, Guatemala, and the Philippines. Also on the list are Honduras, Vietnam, Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico.

Asian immigrants now represent 22 percent of U.S. births by foreign women, up from 16 percent in 2010, the Pew study found.

It is not just that there are more immigrant women living in the United States. Foreign-born women are having more children than U.S.-born women, Pew said.

In 2014, there were 58.3 births for every 1,000 U.S.-born women of childbearing age. The number is 84.2 per 1,000 foreign-born women.

Birth Rates Down Generally

Birth rates for both U.S.-born and foreign-born women are down since 1970. But the 2014 rate for foreign-born women is similar to the rate for U.S.-born women 40 years ago, Pew said.

The drop in total fertility rates has been sharp since the economic recession of 2008, according to the U.S. Census¹ Bureau. The term total fertility rates mean how many children the average woman will have in her lifetime.

Among immigrant women, the fertility rate dropped from 2.7 in 2008 to 2.2 in 2014, the Census Bureau said. For American-born women, the rate dropped from 2.1 to 1.8.

According to the Pew report, 51 percent of foreign-born mothers spent at least 11 years in the United States before having a baby. Just nine percent had arrived less than two years earlier, it said.

The report found that 275,000 babies were born to undocumented immigrants in 2014.

William Frey is with the Metropolitan² Policy Program at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. If it were not for immigrants, Frey said, the U.S. birth rate would be much lower and that could result in shortages of workers.

“My view is that we actually need more young people in this country and that immigrants and their children are going to fill that need,” Frey said.

Steven Camarota is director of research for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington. The center supports calls to limit immigration.

Camarota said it is true immigrants are generally young. That means they can fill jobs and help support programs that provide health and retirement³ assistance for older Americans.

Those retirement programs are projected to run short of money in coming years as more Americans grow older and leave the workforce⁴.

But Camarota said immigrants also generally earn less money than native-born Americans and, as a result, use more social welfare programs. That takes tax money away from other services, he said.

He added that lower birth rates for immigrants are offset⁵ by higher yearly immigration totals.

Fewer Unmarried Women Having Babies

The Pew Research Center report also reported a drop in the percentage of births to unmarried foreign-born mothers. It is down from 37 percent in 2008 to 33 percent in 2014.

At the same time, the rate has held steady for U.S.-born women, Pew reported. It now stands at 42 percent.

Words in This Story

childbearing - adj. the age in which women can give birth

actually - adv. used to refer to what is true or real

welfare - adj. a government program for poor or unemployed⁶ people that helps pay for their food, housing, medical costs

according – adv. as stated by or in

steady – adj. unchanged; direct or sure in movement

1 census   

n.(官方的)人口调查，人口普查

参考例句：

• A census of population is taken every ten years.人口普查每10年进行一次。
• The census is taken one time every four years in our country.我国每四年一次人口普查。

2 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

3 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

4 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

5 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

6 unemployed   

adj.失业的，没有工作的；未动用的，闲置的

参考例句：

• There are now over four million unemployed workers in this country.这个国家现有四百万失业人员。
• The unemployed hunger for jobs.失业者渴望得到工作。