A new study found that increases in immigration were associated with lower mortality among older adults in US metropolitan areas, largely due to growth in the healthcare workforce.
The research, conducted by scholars from Harvard Medical School, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the University of Rochester, reported that adding 1,000 immigrants to a metropolitan statistical area corresponded to about 10 fewer elderly deaths than expected, New India Abroad reported. For every 1,000 new immigrants, the study estimated an additional 142 foreign-born healthcare workers were added to the local workforce. Immigrants made up about 18 percent of the US healthcare workforce, according to the study. The study estimated that a 25 percent increase in immigration nationwide could reduce elderly mortality by about 5,000 deaths.
The study attributed this decline to the arrival of foreign-born healthcare workers, including physicians, nurses and long-term care aides, during a period of persistent workforce shortages across the United States. Researchers found that these workers supplemented, rather than replaced, US-born healthcare employees. The study indicated that increased immigration led to a net expansion of the long-term care workforce, without reducing wages or displacing existing workers. They accounted for roughly one in five nursing home workers and one in three home-care workers. The findings came as the United States faced a growing imbalance between the number of older adults and the available caregiving workforce. The study pointed to immigration as one factor that could help address long-term care shortages, alongside other measures such as improved wages and working conditions.