California on the verge of huge generational change

A lot more older people, a lot more younger people, and not as many folks in between. That's among the findings of a new USC study on California demographics, and it points up some important social and economic adjustments facing the state. I just wonder whether anyone is paying attention. From the report:

California is at the cusp of a major generational transition. The large generation born during the national Baby Boom in the 1940s and 1950s is beginning to leave their prime working ages. At the same time, a rising generation born in the California baby boom of the 1990s, many the children of immigrants who arrived in the 1980s and 1990s, will soon be adults and entering the workforce. The impending changes pose the state with both great opportunities and urgent challenges that need to be addressed.

The report's authors also expect California's population to grow more slowly in the next few decades, which is good news for a state that has struggled to accommodate the increase in immigrants. The population drop is mainly because of an expected decline in immigration.

The growing number of foreign-born residents in the California population includes cumulative increases in the share of long-settled immigrants. As the number of foreign born who are newcomers is declining, the share of the foreign-born who are long settled (entered the U.S. 20 or more years earlier) is increasing. It is projected to rise to 62.2% of all foreign-born in 2030, compared to 45.7% in 2010 and 22.0% in 1990. Conversely, the share of foreign-born that arrived in the U.S. less than 10 years earlier is projected to fall from 27.8% in 2010 to 21.3% in 2030 compared to 50.4% in 1990.

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Mark Lacter
Mark Lacter created the LA Biz Observed blog in 2006. He posted until the day before his death on Nov. 13, 2013.
 
Mark Lacter, business writer and editor was 59
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