As long-term care providers struggle to find workers amid the coronavirus pandemic, many experts say that easing immigration rules could aid the labor market and help economic growth as the U.S. economy slowly rebounds.
“Immigration is crucial to growing the labor force and for economic growth, particularly in the medium and long term,” Stuart Anderson, executive director of the National Foundation for American Policy, told Yahoo Finance.
JP Morgan researchers noted earlier in the month that the country’s working age population is decreasing largely because of the number of baby boomers retiring from the workforce, Yahoo Finance reported, and there are fewer immigrants available to take their place. The oldest baby boomers are turning 75 this year, although the youngest ones still are a more than a decade away from being able to collect full Social Security benefits.
As the McKnight’s Business Daily previously reported, a coalition of long-term care industry associations recently called on the State Department to take “specific actions” related to immigration policies, such as prioritizing immigration visas for nurses, waiving immigration visa interviews and expanding in-person interviews to allow for virtual interviews. That group includes the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living, the American Seniors Housing Association, Argentum, the Association of Jewish Aging Services and LeadingAge.
