How Immigrants and Their U.S.-Born Children Fit into the Future U.S. Labor Market

Jeanne Batalova, Julia Gelatt and Michael Fix, MPI, April 2024

"The U.S. economy has changed dramatically in recent decades, from one that was heavily industrial to one that is mostly service and knowledge based. In the process, demand has grown for workers with higher levels of education and a different mix of skills.

This period of rapid change is far from over. Population aging, the rise of new technologies, and other megatrends continue to reshape the U.S. economy and workforce. While 62 percent of U.S. adults had postsecondary education or training in 2023, 72 percent of U.S. jobs are expected to require this level of education by 2031.

This report examines the projected educational demands of future U.S. jobs and how well the education and training of today’s workers meets those demands. It focuses on the country’s 47.6 million immigrant-origin workers, a group that includes immigrants and their U.S.-born children and that makes up a growing share of the country’s workforce. The report compares trends in the immigrant-origin population with those among U.S.-born adults with U.S.-born parents and explores the workforce and immigration policy implications of these findings."