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Forging a New Social Contract for the Future of America
Russell Sage Foundation Publications
March 2007
On Sale: February 28, 2007
356 pages
ISBN: 0871546361
EAN: 9780871546364
Hardcover
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Non-Fiction Political
Many Americans regard the massive influx of immigrants over
the past 30 years with great anxiety, fearing new burdens
and unwanted changes to the nation's ethnic, social, and
economic identity. Virtually unnoticed in the contentious
national debate over immigration is the even more
significant demographic change about to occur as the first
wave of the Baby Boom generation retires, slowly draining
the workforce and straining the federal budget to the
breaking point. In this forward-looking new book, Immigrants
and Boomers, noted demographer Dowell Myers proposes a new
way of thinking about these issues and argues that each of
these two powerful demographic shifts may hold the keys to
resolving the problems presented by the other. Immigrants and Boomers looks to California as a bellwether
state--where whites are no longer a majority of the
population and represent just a third of residents under age
twenty--to afford us a glimpse into the future impact of
immigration on the rest of the nation. Myers opens with an
examination of the roots of voter resistance to providing
social services for immigrants. Drawing on detailed census
data, Myers demonstrates that long-established immigrants
have been far more successful than the public believes.
Among the Latinos who make up the bulk of California's
immigrant population, those who have lived in California for
over a decade show high levels of social mobility and use of
English, and 50 percent of Latino immigrants become
homeowners after 20 years. The impressive progress made by
immigrant families suggests they have the potential to pick
up the slack from aging boomers over the next two decades.
The mass retirement of the boomers will leave critical
shortages in the educated workforce, while shrinking ranks
of middle-class tax payers and driving up entitlement
expenditures. In addition, as retirees sell off their
housing assets, the prospect of a generational collapse in
housing prices looms. Myers suggests that it is in the
boomers' best interest to invest in the education and
integration of immigrants and their children today in order
to bolster the ranks of workers, taxpayers, and homeowners
America they will depend on 10 and 20 years from now. In this compelling, optimistic book, Myers calls for a new
social contract between the older and younger generations,
based on their mutual interests and the moral responsibility
of each generation to provide for children and the elderly.
Combining a rich scholarly perspective with keen insight
into contemporary political dilemmas, Immigrants and Boomers
creates a new framework for understanding the demographic
challenges facing America and forging a national consensus
to address them.
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