The Future of a Generation: How New Americans Will Help Support Retiring Baby Boomers

"When it comes to the impending retirement of the baby boomers, U.S. policymakers must think beyond the current economic downturn and look at the decades that will follow. In doing so, they must recognize two fundamental truths about the economics of immigration to the United States. First, immigration has always been an engine of growth for the U.S. economy. Immigrants—and, eventually, their children as well—fill gaps in the labor force, create new businesses, and pay into the tax system. Second, despite the economic importance of immigrants, the U.S. immigration system remains stubbornly oblivious to the forces of supply and demand that actually drive immigration. Ours is a system of arbitrary numerical caps that bear little relationship to economic reality. Policymakers would be wise to take a much more purposeful and strategic approach to immigration: legally admitting those immigrants who can help take the place of retiring baby boomers in the labor force, care for the growing ranks of elderly Americans, and shore up the Social Security and Medicare systems with their tax dollars." - IPC, Feb. 14, 2012.