Immigrants Can Help Relieve the Labor Shortage

Guest-worker programs would ease pressure on the border, leading to better enforcement

By Jason L. Riley. Excerpts: 

"Part of the problem is the trillions of dollars that Congress spent on pandemic relief, which provided incentives not to work. Eviction bans and student-loan pauses gave the able-bodied an excuse to stay home. Still, labor-force participation typically rebounds after an economic downturn as jobs become more plentiful. The question is what’s taking so long."

"In February 2020, just before the Covid shutdowns, the labor-force participation rate was 63.4%. Today, it’s decreased to 62.1%. The gap might seem small, but it translates to 3.4 million workers, and it has persisted despite the sharpest rise in nominal wages in more than two decades. Employers are offering signing bonuses and higher pay, yet job openings continue to exceed the number of people looking for work."

"some 70% of illegal border crossers are single adults simply looking for work."

"A smaller workforce means fewer people funding such costly public benefits programs as Social Security and Medicare, as the U.S. population ages and people have fewer children. Between the early 1950s and 2019, the birthrate per 1,000 people in the U.S. fell from 24 to 11."