December 28, 2011
The U.S. population grew more slowly last year than in any year since 1945, writes William H. Frey, reflecting a weak labor market and an aging population. The slowdown spread to more states, affecting previously stable growers like Georgia, North Carolina, Colorado, and Texas.
December 20, 2011
Data from the Census Bureau released in 2011 show the huge demographic changes taking shape across the United States. In this slideshow, experts from the Metropolitan Policy Program look back at analyses from the past year, highlighting decreases in domestic mobility and economic opportunity, along with significant growth in both the aging and ethnic minority populations.
December 02, 2011
As lawmakers and advocates look for ways to align America’s economic interests with targeted immigration reforms, Audrey Singer and Neil Ruiz examine a bipartisan bill that recently passed in the House aimed at reducing backlogs for employment-based and family-based visas, and what impact this bill may have on the economy.
November 17, 2011
Will the sharp slide in America’s migration rates ever end? William H. Frey analyzes recently released Census statistics which show that the country’s great migration slowdown is broadening — especially among college graduates and young adults. However, as Frey notes, modestly growing coastal and industrial states are losing fewer residents.
October 28, 2011
As the Occupy Wall Street movement focuses attention on the plight of unemployed young adults, William H. Frey analyzes new Census statistics on migration and shows that during the down economy many have gravitated to a select group of metro areas with modestly growing economies and a strong youth cachet.
October 24, 2011
Audrey Singer and Jill Wilson explore why the debate around immigration reform has been especially rancorous during the past few years. The authors examine the varied approaches to reform among different states, with states such as Alabama passing tough immigration laws as others pass laws to draw immigrants in.
October 24, 2011
In a keynote presentation to the National Immigrant Integration Conference in Seattle, Audrey Singer examines national and metropolitan immigration trends in the first decade of the 21st century, a time when swift demographic change, congressional inaction, and economic turmoil have led to a patchwork of state and local approaches to immigration.
October 13, 2011
America’s immigrant population grew more slowly in the 2000s than during the 1990s, and immigrants have dispersed to new metropolitan areas and suburbs. Jill Wilson and Audrey Singer examine metropolitan immigration trends in the first decade of the 21st century, a time when swift demographic change, congressional inaction, and economic turmoil have led to a patchwork of state and local approaches to immigration.
September 22, 2011
Data from the 2010 American Community Survey, released today by the Census Bureau, show increases in poverty and declines in income across the United States. Alan Berube and Elizabeth Kneebone analyze the data and note significant trends affecting the country’s largest 100 metropolitan areas, and their cities and suburbs.
August 31, 2011
The 2010 Census shows that the first decade of the 21st century was pivotal for racial and ethnic change in the United States. William H. Frey finds that the rapid growth of Hispanic and Asian origin groups and internal shifts of African Americans are transforming the racial and ethnic demographic profiles of America’s largest metropolitan areas.
August 26, 2011
Using newly released Census data, William H. Frey finds that roughly half of U.S. infants under age one are from ethnic minority groups. Frey notes areas with sharp increases in minority populations, and discusses the growing generation gap between the aging, largely white population and the more diverse youth population.
August 08, 2011
As more immigrants and low-income residents increasingly settle in suburban areas, these communities face complicated and unfamiliar public policy challenges. Audrey Singer and Jill Wilson highlight this changing socioeconomic geography and outline obstacles to providing sufficient social services in the suburbs.
August 04, 2011
Both poverty and immigration have increased over the past decade, and both are growing faster in suburbs than in cities in the largest metropolitan areas, according to a new paper by Roberto Suro, Jill Wilson and Audrey Singer. With immigrants now representing one in every five suburban residents living in poverty and the U.S.-born poor population accounting for 83 percent of recent growth in suburban poverty, the authors examine the complex and unfamiliar public policy challenges facing suburbs that have little or no experience dealing with either immigration or poverty.
July 14, 2011
During a conference exploring the 2010 Census and U.S. suburbs, Alan Berube delivered a presentation on the demographic convergence between cities and suburbs within metropolitan areas. Berube explored the socioeconomic, ethnic, and age-related shifts affecting the country’s suburban areas.
June 28, 2011
America is beginning to show its age as the baby boom generation advances toward full-fledged seniorhood. In a new analysis of 2010 Census data, William Frey finds that the pace of this aging will vary widely across the national landscape due to noticeable geographic shifts in the younger population, with implications for health care, transportation, and housing—and possible impacts on our ability to forge societal consensus.
June 09, 2011
In the ongoing, highly-charged debate over U.S. immigration, a key policy consideration is the economic impact of immigrants and role they play in the U.S. workforce at various skill levels. A new paper analyzes educational attainment among foreign-born adults in each of the nation’s 100 largest metros and identifies some policy implications that reflect the overlap of immigration and economics.
May 11, 2011
Following President Obama’s immigration speech in Texas, Audrey Singer notes that the public’s desire, according to polls, for both immigration enforcement and a path to citizenship is not being reflected in the politically deadlocked debate surrounding the issue.
May 10, 2011
As President Obama delivers a speech on immigration in Texas, Audrey Singer uses passages from a recent op-ed by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to construct stanzas on the need for reform. Singer highlights the role of immigrants in American society and includes some immediate policy solutions.
May 04, 2011
Due to a reduction of white flight, increased black suburbanization, and a greater Hispanic presence in cities and suburbs, metropolitan populations are becoming increasingly multi-hued. As described in William Frey’s analysis of Census 2010, this dissolution of stereotypes holds important implications for social service providers, which now need to serve people with different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, and politicians, who can no longer rely upon demographically homogenous voting blocs.
April 13, 2011
Even though Arizona and Utah have taken contrasting approaches to immigration policy, both states' policies may usurp federal authority and be found unconstitutional. Audrey Singer looks at the most controversial provisions of Arizona’s law and also Utah’s recent package of laws, which include new pathways into the state. She notes that both states’ attempts to tackle immigration send a message to Congress about the urgency of reform.
April 06, 2011
Following the first decade of the 21st century, it’s clear that America’s population will continue to become more globalized and ethnically diverse, writes William H. Frey. In his latest analysis he finds that as the white population ages, the increase in new minorities, Hispanics in particular, has altered the country's demographic picture and infused the child population with growth and vitality.
March 25, 2011
New data from the 2010 Census portray a sharp change in the country’s demographic picture from last century, writes William Frey. Significant growth among Hispanics and Asians, an altered geography for African Americans, and an aging white population all signal major political, economic and social shifts ahead for the United States in the 21st century.
March 22, 2011
William Frey discusses migration shifts among African Americans, many of whom are leaving Rust Belt cities for the southern United States. Frey also contextualizes this trend within the broader demographic changes illustrated by the 2010 Census.
February 07, 2011
New Census Bureau data on school enrollment in the United States show that roughly half of children in the youngest age group are minorities. William Frey links the data to a tipping point in the country's demographics, reinforcing the picture of an increasingly multiethnic minority American youth. He also notes the need for adequate public policy responses in education and workforce training.
January 12, 2011
During the past three years, long distance migration has slowed considerably. This trend reflects the decreased mobility of college graduates and young adults, groups which tend to be the most responsive to shifts in job markets across the country. Using newly released American Community Survey data, William H. Frey tracks the slowdown in migration and shows how the Great Recession has contributed to the trend.
December 22, 2010
Following the release of data from the 2010 Census, William H. Frey lists the major findings. He also explains how these trends illustrate demographic shifts in the United States and what these changes may mean for the country’s future.
December 22, 2010
The initial release of Census 2010 data kicks off a fresh round of political and policy debates. Audrey Singer explains that while this first round of data is limited, more data will flow from Census 2010 and the ongoing American Community Survey.
December 16, 2010
Following decades of unprecedented growth, the Great Recession has slowed immigration considerably. Audrey Singer and Jill Wilson examine the recession's impact on immigrant growth in the 100 largest metro areas.
December 16, 2010
Following the release of five-year American Community Survey data, William H. Frey explores residency and migration patterns among blacks and Hispanics. He notes that some southern metropolitan areas are showing reduced segregation between black and white residents, while segregation levels in the Hispanic community increased in some metros as new areas become destination points.
November 05, 2010
In an analysis of employment by educational attainment in America's 100 largest metropolitan areas, Alan Berube finds sigificant differences in the recession's impacts across these metro areas on workers with different levels of educational attainment.
October 18, 2010
In Seattle, Bruce Katz presented a speech on demographic shifts in the country's largest 100 metropolitan areas and how the nation should respond to meet the policy challenges of a transforming changing. He also highlights a new metropolitan typology, which classifies areas on demographic metrics rather than by geographical proximity.
September 24, 2010
Immigration is a politically toxic topic that has inflamed places from Arizona to northern Virginia. Audrey Singer writes about how some places are confronting the challenges of immigration in productive ways, using the community of Shelbyville, Tennesee, as an example of how residents can adjust to changing demographics.
September 02, 2010
New estimates show that unauthorized immigration has slowed over the past few years, in sync with the slowing economy and tougher border enforcement strategies. Audrey Singer takes a look at the figures from various states and identifies trends that policymakers should consider when thinking about immigration and economic reform.
July 06, 2010
Following President Obama’s recent speech on the need for federal immigration reform, Audrey Singer and Jill Wilson call for an approach that addresses the impact on metropolitan areas — where the majority of immigrants live. They specifically urge the government to provide aid to communities that have seen rapid growth in foreign-born populations during the past decade.
July 02, 2010
Audrey Singer explores two prevailing arguments surrounding U.S. immigration policy, one that exclusively focuses on enforcement and another that employs a comprehensive approach. She concludes that the latter solution is more realistic given the major demographic changes affecting the country.
July 01, 2010
Arizona’s crackdown on illegal immigration may seem apparent to observers outside the state, but the move reflects a response to a confluence of factors operating over the past two decades, including changes to border enforcement, regional economic growth and demographic transformation, Audrey Singer explains.
June 30, 2010
With mounting pressure from a new state law in Arizona, including an anticipated legal challenge from the administration, President Obama has moved immigration reform up on his agenda. Audrey Singer writes that, in spite of current political partisanship, the American public may be as prepared as ever to support a plan for comprehensive reform.
June 25, 2010
Following a recent meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors in which leaders urged the federal government to act on immigration reform, Audrey Singer analyzes the costs borne by municipalities for services to their immigrant populations. She suggests that mayors design impact programs to manage the expenses associated with building infrastructure to integrate foreign-born residents into new communities.
June 25, 2010
Despite the Great Recession, Texas is experiencing solid population growth, especially in comparison with its Sun Belt neighbors. William Frey looks at the most recent numbers and analyzes what they may foreshadow for Census 2010, particularly in regard to both city and suburban populations.
June 24, 2010
As the U.S. soccer team prepares to face Ghana in the World Cup, Alan Berube points out that there will be a sizeable portion of soccer enthusiasts here rooting for what could be the only team from the host continent in the second round. Numbers of African immigrants are increasing in cities across the United States, making them the fastest-growing foreign-born population in the country. Berube highlights the growth using the State of Metropolitan America’s interactive map.
June 16, 2010
As a bill aimed at curbing illegal immigration moves through the Massachusetts legislature, Alan Berube analyzes the state’s demographic data to help determine the motivation behind such a move. Using the State of Metropolitan America report’s interactive map to illustrate the demographics, Berube finds that sheer population figures may not be the only thing driving a crackdown.
June 04, 2010
Like many metros across the United States, the Philadelphia metropolitan area is undergoing major demographic changes, according to Bruce Katz and Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation. In an op-ed published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, they explain that meeting the needs of a aging population, boosting educational attainment and assimilating new immigrants requires broad and far-reaching response from policymakers at the federal, state and local levels.
May 28, 2010
Over the past decade, the Seattle metropolitan area has managed to achieve gains in diversity, educational attainment and overall population growth, reflecting larger demographic trends that are transforming the United States. However, for Seattle, there are some challenges that remain. Bruce Katz outlines how the Seattle metropolitan area can move forward by recognizing the value of its regional assets and collaborating more with its metropolitan peers across the country.
May 13, 2010
Tennessee is considering immigration legislation similar to the controversial bill recently passed in Arizona, but metropolitan areas in the two states may be more different than lawmakers think. Alan Berube provides insight into population growth over the past decade in Nashville, juxtaposes the data with growth in Phoenix, and shows that the two areas fall into different categories of a new metropolitan typology.
May 11, 2010
One element of the State of Metropolitan America report is a new typology that distinguishes metros based upon a series of metrics, rather than by geographical proximity. Alan Berube lists the seven categories of metropolitan areas and how responses to new challenges may cause local leaders to head outside their regions for solutions.
May 11, 2010
During a May 11 event marking the launch of the State of Metropolitan America report, Bruce Katz outlines the findings, highlighting the country’s demographic transformation and the challenges facing federal, state and local leaders.
May 09, 2010
The State of Metropolitan America is a signature effort of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program that portrays the demographic and social trends shaping the nation’s essential economic and societal units—its large metropolitan areas—and discusses what they imply for public policies to secure prosperity for these places and their populations.
May 09, 2010
The United States is experiencing sweeping demographic changes that call for urgent policy responses from the country's leaders. Bruce Katz and Rockefeller Foundation president Judith Rodin outline the shifts occurring across the nation and what these trends mean for metropolitan areas - America's crucial economic and innovative cores.
May 08, 2010
Presenting Milwaukee as a case study, Alan Berube provides insight into the major demographic shifts affecting metropolitan areas across the United States. Using a typology introduced in the State of Metropolitan America report, Berube identifies Milwaukee’s specific challenges and suggests ways local and state leaders can meet the needs of a changing population.