Editorials

The assumption that immigrants are a burden to California’s economy is challenged by a study that found poverty levels have declined among long-term foreign-born residents, researchers said Monday. 

“Now that time has passed and they’re staying longer, they become more established,” said the study’s co-author, Dowell Myers, a demographics professor at the University of Southern California. 

The researchers commented on the study in advance of its scheduled release Tuesday. The researchers used the censuses of 1970, 1980 and 1990, and the Current Population Survey of March 2000 to measure poverty rates over three decades. 

The study documents a decline in poverty levels among California immigrants the longer they live in the state, the researchers said. Long-term residency and assimilation have contributed to more skilled workers, homeowners and drivers, Myers said. 

The study, titled “Demographic Futures for California,” focused on California’s immigration patterns for the last 30 years because it has the nation’s largest immigrant population. 

The 2000 Census found that 25.9 percent of Californians are foreign-born. Nationwide, there are about 28.3 million foreign-born residents, or one out of every 10 people. 

“California is the bellwether for the rest of the nation,” Myers said. 

Researchers say their findings could affect public policy decisions such as education,  

health behavior, smoking, transportation, welfare and  

home ownership. 

The study challenges a common belief that immigrants in general lack skills and depend on welfare, said co-author John Pitkin from Analysis and Forecasting Inc. in Cambridge, Mass. 

Myers said some of the impacts are evident in everyday life.  

The housing demand has peaked as immigrants have moved out of apartments and shared rooms into their own homes.  

And while new immigrants initially depend on public transit, many learn to drive, adding to the number of cars on California’s congested roadways. 

The study also highlighted the need for education. 

“California is totally dependent on the education levels of Latinos,” Myers said about the state work force. “If California wants to be high tech, it has to scale up to the future. Evidence shows there’s a real upward trend. It’s not as pessimistic as you think.” 

The study also found that the children of immigrants are increasingly better educated than their parents, Myers said. 

The research was funded by USC, the USC Tobacco Center and the Fannie Mae Foundation of Washington, D.C. 

The authors planned to release the study Tuesday afternoon at a USC news conference.