The percentage of U.S.-born teenagers in the summer job market has been declining as the number of illegal and legal immigrants with jobs has risen, a report from the Center for Immigration Studies reveals.
In 1994, nearly two-thirds of U.S.-born teens ages 16 through 19 were in the summer labor force, meaning they were working or looking for work. Last summer, the number had dropped to 45 percent. Over that same period, the number of teens not in the labor force rose from 4.7 million to 8.1 million.
“At the same time, the overall number of immigrants, legal and illegal, holding a job doubled,” according to the report from Steven A. Camarota, Director of Research at the Center, and Karen Jensenius, a demographer there.
She added: “The evidence indicates that immigration accounts for a significant share of the decline in teen labor force participation. The decline in teen work is worrisome because research shows that those who do not hold jobs as teenagers often fail to develop the work habits necessary to function in the labor market, creating significant negative consequences for them later in life.”
The report also discloses the following:
Immigrants and teenagers frequently do the same kind of work. In the 10 occupations employing the most U.S.-born teens during the summer of 2007, 1 in 5 workers was an immigrant.
Between 1994 and 2007, teenage employment declined the most in the occupations where immigrants made significant job gains.
Just 45 percent of U.S.-born teens were in the summer labor force in the 10 states with the largest percentage of immigrant workers in 2007, compared to 58 percent in the 10 states with the smallest share of immigrant workers.
The most likely reason immigrants displace U.S.-born teens, according to the authors, “is that the vast majority of immigrants are fully developed adults — relatively few people migrate before age 20. This gives immigrants a significant advantage over U.S.-born teenagers who typically have much less work experience.”
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