Part 1 of a four-part New England News Collaborative series called “Facing Change”
New England is facing a demographic crisis: its people are getting too old to work. States are desperate for young workers who can fill jobs, attract businesses and pay taxes.
As part of a New England News Collaborative series, Facing Change, New Hampshire Public Radio’s Emily Corwin reports — on one controversial solution few people are talking about: immigration.
New England states are desperate for young workers who can help attract businesses, who will pay taxes, and who won’t’ dip into social security for decades. NENC’s Emily Corwin looks at one somewhat controversial solution: immigration.
It is hard to avoid the hand-wringing about aging demographics in New England these days. Our states have the lowest birth rates in the country.
The Northern states have the oldest populations in the country. The Southern New England States are up there, too.
That leaves businesses — and people like Jim Roche, who heads up NH’s chamber of commerce — with this question.
Will we have the workforce necessary to power our businesses throughout the state. That’s the $64,000 question.
From Bangor to Bennington to Bridgeport, fewer kids are being born and raised here. You can see that for yourself stepping inside any number of elementary schools.
Becky Ruel is principal of Kensington NH’s Elementary School.
So as of last year this was still a 5th grade classroom so this is the first year we haven’t had two fifth grade teachers,
Kensington’s Elementary School has a dedicated room just for therapy; another for STEM projects, yet another for hands-on learning. This place has so much space. A decade ago, Ruel says, more than twice as many students came here.
So – declining birth rates. It’s this trend that keeps people like Dana Connors up at night.
Dana Connors heads up the Maine Chamber of Commerce. He says when his team looked at the numbers
You found a very strong case to be made to attract the immigrant worker.
As is the case across New England, Maine’s business community is lobbying for programs to help people who are already in Maine, find good jobs in Maine. But that won’t be enough to stem the shortage posed by declining birth rates.
Recently, Connors and the Maine Chamber of Commerce released a report recommending policies to attract more immigrants to Maine. The report suggests expanding the New Mainers Resource Center that already exists in Portland,
Strengthen it by having others in Lewiston and Auburn, strengthen it with financial resources, English, we recognize is a barrier, try to help in that respect, transportation can be an issue.
Maine’s Governor Paul LePage, in the meantime — is famous for his anti-immigrant rhetoric.
That hasn’t stopped state lawmakers from submitting bills to fund these programs. And at the local level, Portland and Bangor’s city councils are both working to establish centers for job preparation, too.
These efforts get a big thumbs up from SIGCO, a glass and Metal fabricating company in Westbrook, Maine. Cindy Caplice [KAY-pliss] manages Sigco’s Human Resource department. She says historically, this time of year, there were more workers than jobs. Not now.
It’s December in Maine and many people are still looking for help.
About a third of SIGCO workers are immigrants — many, refugees. Thanks to them, Caplice says, her company has enough staff.
Next door in New Hampshire Amadou Hamady says, businesses stand to benefit from immigrants who move here. He heads up Manchester NH’s refugee resettlement program.
Every refugee who comes here, they want to work. They want to contribute to this economy, to this society.
New Hampshire has the lowest unemployment rate in the nation, so companies struggle to find employees. Yet they talk little about immigration. Hamady says businesses should celebrate the role immigrants play in New England’s economy.
City officials, elected, need also to celebrate that. Because we’re keeping these industries going. But sometimes we don’t see a lot of that being said. I think that’s, for me, it’s a missed opportunity.
Research shows immigrants are economic drivers not just for businesses, but also for state and local budgets, too.
Kim Reuben is an economist who worked on a report published by the National Academies Press.
She says first generation immigrants are a net cost to states and towns. That’s mostly due to education costs for larger families. But that education more than pays for itself, once the kids grow up.
Second generation individuals are both paying more taxes and using less services than both the first and the third.
Back at the Maine Chamber of Commerce, Dana Connors says he knows there’s a lot of confusion and concern around immigration policy. But, he says, immigrants offer a lot of value, both economically and socially. So – he says, it pays to keep a clear head.
“This report comes from the New England News Collaborative. Eight public media companies coming together to tell the story of a changing region, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.”
