The Workforce in the Year 2050

Over the next 43 years this generation will be faced with the aging of the baby-boom generation, the stabilization of women’s work labor force, increasing racial and ethnic diversity in the workforce. “With an annual growth rate of 0.6 percent over the 2005-50 periods, the labor force is projected to reach 194.8 million in 2050” (BLS). The population will increase from 275 million to about 394 million due mainly to immigration. This means that there will be more workers than it is now. Since immigration counts for two thirds of the population increase there will new faces in the workforce. “Minorities, with higher population growth through immigration, higher fertility rates, and higher labor force participation rates, are projected to expand their share of the workforce considerably in the future” (BLS). The white population will take a big drop from 73 to 53 percent in the workforce. Hispanic population will increase the most by 15 percent, Asians/ pacific islanders by 5 percent and African Americans by 2 percent. By the year 2050 the percentage of Hispanic in the workforce will be 24.3 percent.

Over the last 20 years the workforce has been dominated by baby boomers who will reach retirement age between the years of 2011 and 2029. The generation behind them will deal with caring for there parents, children, and work. Since there is a decrease in fertility rates, not until 2020 will the youth (16 to 24) workforce see an increase.

Roughly 83 percent of people over the age of 25 have completed high school, and 24 percent have graduated college. In 1997, Asian Americans have the highest high school completion at 90 percent not far behind them are whites at 88 percent and African Americans at 86 percent. Hispanics had a high-school graduation rate of 62 percent.

In 1950 only 33 percent of women worked, which increased in 2000 to 60 percent. Men on the other hand decreased from 86 to 75 percent. At this rate only 66 percent of men will be working in 2050. Since less dads are working many families will not know the “… traditional system of dads who head out to work every morning, leaving mom to stay at home with the children, a full-time housewife and mother…”(Kimmel). Manufacturing jobs will decrease while service-related jobs will increase. Agricultural jobs will take the biggest decrease. The big growth will be in child care, health care and residential care facilities.

The population density in 2000 was 45 people per square kilometer will increase to 66 people per square kilometer by 2050. “ Assuming 10 percent of land is arable, population densities per unit of arable land will be roughly 10 times higher, posing unprecedented problems of land use and preservation for the developing world” (Science Daily). There will be last land we can use for crops and more people to feed. This is one of many problems that have to be faced in the year 2050.

The workforce in the year 2050 will see a drastic change. The population will see a major increase mainly from immigration. There will be less whites and more Hispanics, African Americans, Asians and Pacific Islanders. Baby boomers faced with retirement will depend more on there children for help. Since more youths are completing college they will have the opportunity to have better wages in the workforce. Not only will more minorities be in the workforce but more women. In the year 2050 there will be less men working and more being stay at home dads. There will be less land and more people which will lead to even more problems.





Kimmel M.S. (2002). The gendered society (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
Science Daily. By the Year 2050, Human Population could add 2.6 Billion People, Reports Rockefeller Scientist. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031114072555.htm%20on%20August%201, 2007
Toossi, M. A new look at long-term labor force projections to 2050. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2006/11/art3full.pdf%20on%20August%201, 2007