America has always had a strained relationship with immigrants. On the one hand, almost everyone immigrated to America, at some point. On the other hand, each generation tends to look down on the next generation as being less legitimate, somehow less important. The English hated the Germans, the Germans hated the Irish, and the Irish hated the Italians. It was all about fear of other languages and culture, economic competition, and the need to declare that “I was here!”. Every immigrant group struggles. Every immigrant group wonders if the next group will wipe out their legacy.
That spirit of “I got mine, you get yours” still thrives today. We are afraid of whatever is on the other side of our borders. We fear Mexicans, but strangely not Canadians. If you don’t live in a border state, you think that these fears are overblown. If you do live in a border state, you know that the rest of America just doesn’t get it. The truth is that America doesn’t get it. We don’t understand the problem… regardless of where you live. We have an enormous immigrant problem! It may be America’s greatest crisis. We just can’t get enough immigrants!
Didn’t see that one coming, eh? Well, it’s true. But it does take a bit of explaining. The thing that is different about this round of immigration is the number of illegal immigrants. Since illegal immigrants don’t fill out paperwork, there is no official count. Other details, like counting the 4 million children of illegal immigrants, make that number a bit fuzzy. The most common number is 10-12 million, peaking in 2006. Today it may be “as little” as 8 million. Yet, in 1969 there were just 500,000 illegal immigrants. By 1980 it rose to 3 million. By 2000 it rose again to 8.5 million. Why were the numbers of illegal immigrants rising, regardless of whether it was a Republican or Democratic administration?
You’re not going to like this. Seriously. You won’t. Remember, I warned you. In the 1970’s something revolutionary happened. Women started to enroll in college and apply for corporate jobs in numbers never seen before. While some women had always enrolled in higher learning and held jobs, in the 1950s and 1960s most were were “housewives”. They took care of the home, raised the kids, and (if they were ambitious) volunteered for church and social organizations. Women were not heads of corporations, did not hold key political offices, and would not have been taken seriously if they wanted to raise money for a startup. While only 24 of today’s Fortune 500 corporations have female CEOs, it is a long, Long, LONG way from 0 to 24.
What has this got to do with immigration? I’m getting to it. In 1950… before everything changed… only 34% of women worked, mostly as telephone operators, typists, file clerks, and secretaries. In retail, they were waitresses and sales staff. Higher paid positions were the sole domain of men. By 2000, over 60% of women were employed. That expanded the workforce by nearly 20 million. Academics argue endlessly about how this impacted the workforce. Did it suppress wages, crushed unions, changed the American family? Maybe. But for this article, let’s focus on one little aspect of this change that no one can argue about.
If millions of women are working full time, who was taking care of the home? Over time the American home was “outsourced”. Years ago, most Americans only ate out on special occasions. Now most workers regularly order take-out food. Technology at work replaced many job functions. At home, microwaves, meals in a box, and dishwashers allowed children and husbands alike to feed themselves. Parents used to have weekend duties, which have been largely replaced by home cleaning services, lawn care companies, and insurance on home appliances.
The wealthy could always afford to have household staff, but such luxuries were beyond the reach of the working and middle class. But as women left homes for work, services needed to evolve and the second income women generated created new industries and products. But how much should these services cost? How much will the average family pay to keep the home running?
A number of studies have tried to price the services that a mother provides… cooking, cleaning, tutoring, babysitting, car service, time management, accounting & bill paying, interior decorator, and nurse. And all available 24×7 and on holidays, without overtime pay! Typically, these services are priced at over $100,000 a year. But the average second salary is far less than $100,000. How can so many afford to go to work?
And THAT is where illegal immigrants come in. Illegals are paid less, work longer hours, rarely get benefits, and have few opportunities to complain. That means that the services they perform are much less expensive than from “traditional” providers. Where do we find large numbers of illegal immigrants? Fast food, lawn care, laundry, home cleaning services, child care, etc. The jobs have been abandoned by the American family have filled by low paid workers.
If you could wave a magic wand and get rid of every undocumented immigrant in America, would you do it? If you did, the cost of agriculture, fast food, fine restaurants, cleaning services, and far more would skyrocket. The average American family would no longer be able to perform these services, or they would simply not be available because American’s would not perform these functions at the current rates.
Of course, prices could just rise until someone would do the work. The increase in cost would be crippling. If you like to order out, it will take more than just replacing the delivery man. Kitchen staff, dishwashers, the waitstaff, chefs and still others could be undocumented workers. The Restaurant orders supplies. The whole supply chain is filled with illegal immigrants. Warehouses that carry all the food and cooking supplies. Farms that grow fruits and vegetables. Slaughterhouses and packing plants that prepare and deliver meat. The biggest increases will be in the least expensive eateries. Here, you can expect the cost of a meal to double or triple. Will any Americans be found who will accept the hot and difficult work of trimming lawns, cleaning pools, and similar services?
Alternatively, either wives or husbands can give up their careers to help out at home. If small businesses that use illegal immigrants go out of business, and two-income families become just one income, the amount of employment will drop. Since more and more of us are reaching retirement age, that means far fewer small businesses and employees to tax to pay for Social Security and Medicare. Or less money for retirees. And, of course, with so many new retirees, and every other married person dropping out of the workforce… who is going to look after our senior citizens?
So, there it is. Like it or not, America today NEEDS those 10 million illegal immigrants to do our work and supplement our economy. Tomorrow when you and I are a bit older, we’re going to need even more immigrants to do all the work and keep the economy rolling so. Still want to get rid of immigrants. I hope you have a lot of money in the bank or plan on retiring to a country that’s happy to have immigrants!