Social science

The term demographics refers to the statistical characteristics of human populations, such as age, race or income and its purpose is to study a certain segment of the population. The United States, the third most populous country, accounts for 4. 5% of the world’s population. According to Census 2010, the population of the Unites States was counted as 308, 745, 538, a 9. 7% increase from the 2000 census. The graph below illustrates the expected population rate of the United States in 2050. Today, the world is changing very rapidly in terms of statistics. And because the economic effects differ for different regions, so do fertility and mortality rates. For developed countries, mortality rates are lower and life expectancy is higher and vice versa for the developing countries. But in any case, the global population is increasing at a high acceleration rate. The United States, under the burden of providing for a rapidly-aging, non productive elderly population, also has to deal with high rates of immigrants. The standard life cycle model yields a straightforward prediction that as a large chunk of the population comprises of aging people, national savings fall. As a result to this, investment suffers negative blows in the long run. With overseas population settling in the United States, withdrawals from the economy are promised. However, with the increase in the number of immigrants settling in the Unites States, there is also likely to be an increase in the investments in the short-run and an increased work force. It also makes the United States a multi-cultural society, its population comprising of people from different races and nations. While the United States stands with certain challenges at hand with the growing, diverse population, it is justified to say that they will be able to cope with the current and projected demographic changes if policymakers accelerate their efforts to address these problems. Being a country beholding a population made up of so many different races and ethnicities, it is difficult to understand who the ‘real’ Americans were, since all of them have migrated somewhere along the time line. Thus, when the contemporary media puts forward a culture, it is not the culture of everyone, nor is it of the majority. The uniqueness of the country lies in the many races that have settled here and when we talk about Americans, we talk about all of them. A pop culture icon can be anyone, a black, a white, a Latin or an Asian, as long as they are ‘American’ in their ways. Though different in their looks, accents and postures, all Americans are similar in their own ways, similarities that unite them as one big nation. Thus it is not ironic when you see the vast fan following of Michael Jackson, the black or that of Ricky Martin, the Latin. America is a country which has received large bulks of immigrants since the beginning. The wave theory illustrates large waves after waves of people who settled down in the United States around the times of World War I. The wave theory talks about the large ” waves” of people that entered, and what reasons lead to this immigration. Between years 1820 and 1830, approximately 30 million people entered the United States, their origin being Europe. This included the Dutch, French, and mostly the Irish and Germans. The second wave of immigrants recorded is between 1820 and 1920, where the number of Germans migrants was around 5. 7 million. In this time period, however, well over 4. 5 million Irish had also immigrated to the United States. The three Scandinavian nations, Sweden, Denmark and Norway sent approximately 2 million immigrants, and the Japanese and Chinese made a final contribution. There are many reasons that caused such large numbers of immigrants to move to the United States. Firstly, America was seen as a ” land of opportunities” by the Europeans, who wanted peaceful rural life after the revolution in their own homeland. Secondly, while the civil wars and riots broke out in the rest of the world, the United States provided as a safe harbor with a stable future. By the end of the 19th century, America had become a largely populated, multi-cultural country of immense power and potential. However, with the increasing population rate, the government of the United States decided to limit immigrant entries into the country. Thus now, newer laws have been implemented, and strict measures are being taken to keep the system running under the new system. Also, due to political and social instability worldwide, security checks have become tighter, while more and more information about the applicant is required and thorough looked through so as to not skip any piece of evidence that shows he/she is not legible to enter the United States. In addition to this, with the terrorism activities being illustrated loudly, the immigration centre has restricted who enters the United States and who does not to a great deal. However, there is still a large number of illegal immigrants who enter the United States. Ironically, they do not challenge the economy of the country but jeopardize the security system. With 3 out of every 100 people being illegal immigrants with forged identities and fake documentation, it is easier for criminals and terrorists to take shelter. Thus, in the present times, a very limited number of people enter the United States legally, as America has two issues at hand: to cater for and create employment opportunities for the work force available and the little amount that is allowed to leak in, and to try and protect the country’s security system further. References J. Q. Adams, & P. Stother-Adams. (2001) Dealing With Diversity. Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. D. G. Papademetriou, & A. Terrazas (2009) Migration Policy Institute. Immigrants in the United States and the Current Economic Crisis. Web. June 8 2011. L. B. Shresta, & E. J. Heisler (2011) Congressional Research Service. The Changing Demographic Profile of the United States. Web. June 8 2011. G. Steinem (1965, August 20) Outs of Popular Culture. Life, 31. International Database U. S. Census Bureau (2011) Web. . June 8, 2011.