Changes in the Age Structure and Occupational Distribution of New Immigrant Destinations 1990-2000

Katherine Bartley, University of Pennsylvania

This study examines both the age and the occupational structure of a sample of communities whose immigrant populations exceeded 5% for the first time in Census 2000. The examination is twofold: 1) what occupational and age structure characteristics described these areas prior to the influx of migration, and 2) how has the influx influenced affected these characteristics. I test the hypothesis that new destination communities had comparatively older age structures prior to the migration flows, which would suggest that migrants were drawn by a void in the working age population. My primarily data sources are the 1990 and 2000 Censuses. I expect to find evidence that the age structure of communities influenced the influx of migration. I also expect to see a concentration of immigrant labor in a few occupations in the newer destinations and a wider diversity of occupations in the more traditional destinations.