America’s Birth Rate is at its lowest since 1936 and if we cannot encourage more young people to have children, America will fall into decline. See how Germany looked to solving this problem. Oh the pragmatic Germans.
By Chris M. Ingram, LL.M., ESQ
As an Immigrant from the UK living the American dream, and as a US Immigration lawyer; trying to shout above anti-immigrant rhetoric, I’m always looking for news that positively promotes the value immigrants bring to the US. I found a story that you might find interesting.
Stephen Mihm of Bloomberg News wrote an article called “Make America Mate Again” – why? Well, apparently America, like many developed countries, is experiencing a slowing down in its birth rate. According to a study by Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry, in his article, ‘America’s birth rate is now a national emergency’, the birth rate has slumped to 59.6 births per 1,000 women.
Presidents from many developing countries like Japan, Italy and Germany are taking their falling birth rates extremely seriously, but often feel powerless in implementing a plan. How do you want to make your country “Mate Again?”
The birth rate for the US is 1.86, for China its 1.56, Japan 1.42, Canada 1.61 and Italy 1.4. Any birth rate less than 2.00 (two parents producing two kids) means the countries population is actually shrinking, if you exclude migrants. The birth rate in Mexico is 2.2, so their population is actually growing ever so slightly.
The World Bank has done a global study on this problem. Think about this, if fewer babies are being born and old folk are living longer, what does that ultimately spell for the country? Disaster. It’s not good, right?
Why do you think Germany took in over one million refugees in 2016 alone? Germany took in more refugees in just one year than Europe combined for many years. Germany’s birth rate is just 1.5. Germany saw an opportunity (and of course out of compassion) to plug this deficit and took it, much to the gratitude of the million plus refugees, but to the chagrin of Europe, including many Germans who were worried about terrorism.
How many refugees did America take in? Well, according to Pew Research America is likely to take in 50,000 in 2017, down from around 110,000 in 2016. Germany 1,000,000 refugees vs. America 50,000 refugees. Who is the leader of the free world again?
The only short term way to fix this birth rate problem is for America to compete for migrants, especially educated migrants. Seriously. Yeah! Who knew?
Global Economics explained through the beautiful game of Soccer
So, let’s talk economics using Soccer as our analogy. In soccer, each team has 11 players. So, what happens when your team has a player sent off? You get mad, right? Why, because even with just one player missing your team is now at a significant disadvantage. Even if your team has better players, simply playing with 10 instead of 11 tips the game away from them. Ok, how would you feel if another member of your team gets sent off, leaving you with just 9 players? Now, the chances of your team winning diminishes drastically and you begin to anticipate defeat. Game Over. As America’s birth rate continues to fall, unless they are able to bring onto the pitch substitute players; immigrants, their global competitive advantage will be lost.
As a Chelsea supporter, at first I was dismayed when the team ceased to be a team of British players and then brought in players from all over the world, but I did not mind when they begun to win the league almost year after year. Chelsea, like Manchester United and Liverpool realized that without seeking out the best from around the world, they would lose their competitive advantage.
The population of a nation is its competitive global strength. The education level (talent) of a nation’s work force is what gives it its competitive edge. A larger work force, does not mean less jobs, it actually means more jobs, more productivity and more wealth.
Moreover, if the labor force is educated enough to be flexible so that as old industries die off naturally due to technology advances, the labor force is then mobile enough to pivot to the next emerging industry. A shrinking work force means, the country is literally dying. How can fewer workers produce more output, than a country having more workers. When China put its nation to work in industry, they came from no where to being the #2 largest economy in the world in just 35 years, set to surpass America very soon. More workers, more productivity, less unemployment.
We need changes to the US Immigration system to enable hospitals to recruit the nurses they need to serve us.
So, if a country’s natural population is shrinking and America’s is, then we need more immigrants than ever to Make America Great Again. Ironic isn’t it? Let me give you an illustration of this principle at work.
India and the Philippines produces more nurses than they need. America cannot produce enough nurses, solution, Nursing Directors go on recruitment missions to the Philippines and India to migrate as many nurses as are willing to come. Unfortunately, the US Immigration laws have not been updated in twenty years and as a result the number of Nurses that can be issued with visas is so low that these recruitment trips have all but been abandoned. Yet as America gets older, the need for more nurses only increases.
So, if Hospitals cannot recruit enough nurses, the only option left open to them is to start a bidding war for nurses, to lure them away from one US hospital to another US hospital. Great for nurses, but bad for Hospitals, and ultimately bad for us.
Incidentally, the same is true in Silicon Valley. America cannot produce enough graduate talent either in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).
A larger and diverse workforce make for a winning workforce.
So why can’t America grow its own talent? Well, there are a few reasons. Firstly, fewer kids are being born. Secondly the price of education is astronomically high.
To pay for the tuition to become a Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), (a junior nurse) is between $10,000 – $15,000 for one year. Many courses are over $30,000 for one year.
To train to be a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), the new RN standard, can cost as much as $200,000, all things included.
Again, these high fees are similar to any graduate level degrees and professional qualifications. Many, youngsters when faced with a life time of repaying massive student loans make the decision or calculation that its just not worth it. America thus, ends up with an under educated workforce.
Is a University Education really worth starting life with $150,000 in Student debt? Is this the best way to send our kids into the world, really?
If we want to Make America Great Again, and I’m all for that, some fundamentals are going to have to change. First of all, America needs all the educated immigrants it can get if it’s going to compete on the world stage of commerce.
American needs to Make American Education Affordable Again.
Finally, America, like many European countries, have to figure out a way to Make America Have Kids Again, like the Brady Bunch.
American Businesses want immigrants, you don’t have to convince them. The narrative about Immigrants has been completely politicized as being a negative, but the simple math screams the opposite. So, amidst the noise, American Businesses are doing all they can to hire lawyers like me to help them fix their vacancy problem. If you have a graduate level professional qualification, on behalf of American business, we need your talents like, yesterday. Get in touch and we’ll do our very best to get you here asap.
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Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
US Immigration Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram
Chris M. Ingram LL.M., ESQ – Immigration Attorney
Admitted in New York.
Practice Specializing in US Immigration Law
401 Wilshire Boulevard, 12th Floor,
[Cross Streets 4th and Wilshire]
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California 90401
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About Chris M. Ingram., LL.M., ESQ.
Attorney Chris M. Ingram is originally from Northampton, England. Chris M. Ingram Graduated with a BA(Hons) Degree in Law from De Montfort University, Leicester, UK in 1994, Chris M. Ingram then went on to the De Montfort School of Law in 1996 and graduated with a Post Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PGDLP). In 1998 Chris M. Ingram graduated with a Masters of Laws and Letters (LL.M) from Huddersfield University, UK. and after relocating to the U.S. Chris was admitted to the New York State Bar in 2003. Chris has been a member of the American Immigration Lawyers Association since 2004.
Having gone through the US Immigration process personally with his wife and three children, Chris M. Ingram founded his own law firm with the clear mission to make sure every client had the very best US Immigration experience possible. To begin with, Chris M. Ingram set about writing and creating the very best comprehensive US Immigration education platform so that every visitor had the opportunity to discover in their own time and at their own pace their US Visa, Work Permit and Green Card options for free. Today, the Law Offices of Chris M. Ingram’s website has over one thousand pages of content and hundreds of education videos and testimonials to inform and inspire every visitor. We are adding new content all the time.
Attorney Chris M. Ingram also believes that everyone should be able to have a free consultations so that potential clients can speak personally and confidentially with an immigration specialist and discuss their US Visa, Work Permit and Green Card needs and learn about how we can help them achieve the American Dream.
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