Introduction
The impact of immigration on wages in the United States is a highly controversial and debated issue. Even economists and scholars do not share a common opinion on the matter. While some theorists argue that immigration hurts the income and job availability for native workers, others claim that the significance of this impact is overstated. From a personal perspective, the statement that immigrants flood the labor market and drive down wages in the country has some reasonable ground; however, it should be considered in the context to be entirely rational.
Analysis
First of all, a large number of theorists and practitioners admit that the majority of immigrants are low-skilled workers. Therefore, “the influx is likely to drive down the wages of low-skilled workers and result in higher inequality” (Lin & Weiss, 2019, p. 2229). This tendency is supported by recent research, which shows that between 1980 and 2000, the reduction in the average wage of native workers caused by immigrants with similar work experience and education ranged from 3% to 9% for the least experienced and skilled employees (Lin & Weiss, 2019). At the same time, the situation in the high-skilled labor market will be less affected by immigration compared to other forces.
However, its impact on the low-skilled market is also controversial. Thus, according to some economists, immigrants depress native wages, especially in industry-specific skill spheres; however, the immediate consequences are overestimated. Thus, “a 10 % increase in immigrant labor led to only a 1 % to 3 % decrease in wages” (Lin & Weiss, 2019, p. 2231).
Conclusion
Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the labor market is unevenly affected by immigration. While high-skilled workers experience less pressure, the growing number of low-skilled employees logically leads to decreased wages due to competitiveness. At the same time, the scope of this decrease does not decrease immediate response; in turn, the government should focus on law enforcement to avoid illegal immigration and control the influx of workers.
Reference
Lin, K. H., & Weiss, I. (2019). Immigration and the wage distribution in the United States. Demography, 56(6), 2229-2252.