Immigrants in Philadelphia are driving the city’s workforce, according to reports by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which conducted an in-depth analysis of this community’s economic and fiscal impact.
Thomas Ginsberg, co-author of the reports and a senior official at The Pew Charitable Trusts, emphasized that immigrants play a significant role as workers, business owners, homeowners, and taxpayers. “Their role in the economy has definitely been growing, and it does so at disproportionate rates compared to their share of the population.”
“It’s the culture, the cuisine, the people you meet, the businesses, and it has been growing steadily over the years here. The overall trend is upward, and we want to be able to quantify that and all the implications it has for city policymakers.”
According to Ginsberg, immigrants have had a positive impact on the city’s economy, while also bringing attention to the costs that come with it, noting that the city benefits if the next generation of these immigrant families stays in the area.
“The first generation may bring some short-term fiscal costs to the city, but research shows that the second generation significantly offsets those costs in the economy.”
The co-author of the reports explained that immigrants become net contributors to the economy and the local government’s fiscal health as they remain in the area. “And local officials can have some influence over that.”
A Series of Reports and Studies
Ginsberg is leading a series of reports and studies aimed at precisely understanding the city’s immigrant population and their contributions. One of these studies found that immigrants make up nearly 16% of the city’s population and 20% of its workforce, while also driving about one-third of Philadelphia’s workforce growth since 2010.
Experts noted that the boost in the workforce by immigrants is partly due to the fact that approximately 57% of foreign-born residents are in the prime working age, between 25 and 54, compared to only 40% of the native-born population.
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Other reports broke down the percentage of immigrant workers in various industries in and around Philadelphia, analyzing wages and worker percentages by industry and country of origin.
These studies revealed that the majority of immigrant workers are employed in healthcare, transportation, and retail sectors.
The high rate of entrepreneurship among immigrants in Philadelphia was also highlighted in these studies. They represent one-third of all business owners in the city.
Additionally, the studies analyzed immigrant entrepreneurs by country of origin and found that Brazilians are the most entrepreneurial: nearly 20% are self-employed or own their own businesses.
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