Census Bureau: America

America Dept: Because Americans have so many babies and welcome so many immigrants, they had more room to deal with the coming burden of pensions and health care for the elderly, according to The Chronicle Herald. On Dec. 12 the Census Bureau said that America s projected population would rise 27 per cent, to 400 million, by 2050. That is nine per cent less than it had projected for that year back in 2008. Those 65 and over will grow to 22 per cent of the population by 2060, from 14 per cent now, while the working-age population slips from 63 per cent to 57 per cent and although America s fiscal problems are among the worst in the rich world, its policy-makers long have taken comfort that, when it came to demography, its outlook was one of the best. The savage recession of 2007-2009 and its aftermath not only have deepened America s fiscal hole, but also have weakened those demographic advantages. America s fertility rate has been falling since 2007, as has net immigration. Compounding this, the share of the population that is active in the labor force has slipped, both because of aging and because of the recession s lingering effects. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.