Incorporating Immigrant Flows into Microsimulation Models

by Harriet Orcutt Duleep and Daniel J. Dowhan
Social Security Bulletin, Vol. 68 No. 1, 2008
Table equivalent for Chart 1. Distribution of immigrants by age at time of entry and source-country category (economically developing versus developed countries), based on the 1980 and 1990 Census PUMS (in percent)
Age Developing countries Developed countries
1980 1990 1980 1990
20–24 8.7 8.9 6.9 7.7
25–29 11.8 12.7 7.6 7.1
30–34 17.1 17.5 12.1 10.2
35–39 15.5 15.5 14.4 12.3
40–44 10.2 10.2 13.1 10.8
45–49 5.8 5.9 8.0 6.6
50–54 4.0 3.9 6.1 5.6
55–59 2.8 2.6 4.0 3.6
60–64 2.2 2.0 3.1 2.7
65–69 1.8 1.6 2.3 1.9
70–74 1.5 1.1 1.7 1.1
75–79 1.3 0.9 1.7 1.1
80–84 0.8 0.4 1.2 0.8
85–89 0.4 0.2 0.9 0.4
90–94 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.2
SOURCE: Authors estimates based on 1980 and 1990 Census PUMS.
NOTE: PUMS = public-use microdata sample.
Table equivalent for Chart 2. Distribution of legal versus illegal immigrants, by age at time of entry (in percent)
Age Legal Illegal
0–4 4.7 11.7
5–9 6.6 15.9
10–14 9.0 10.9
15–19 10.2 16.7
20–24 9.8 22.6
25–29 13.3 17.6
30–34 11.7 4.2
35–39 8.4 0.4
40–44 6.4 . . .
45–49 5.0 . . .
50–54 3.7 . . .
55–59 3.4 . . .
60–64 2.9 . . .
65–69 2.3 . . .
70–74 1.4 . . .
75+ 1.1 . . .
SOURCE: Information on the age distribution for legal immigrants is from the Immigration and Naturalization Service records for 1993–1998. The age distribution estimates for illegal (undocumented immigrants are based on Passel (1999).
NOTE: . . . = not applicable.
Table equivalent for Chart 3. Distribution of legal versus illegal immigrants, by source country (in percent)
Source country Legal Illegal
Eastern Europe 11.5 0.5
Western Europe, Japan, and Oceania 6.6 0.9
Asia minus Japan 34.9 5.8
Africa 5.0 2.2
Canada 1.7 2.9
Mexico and unknown/not reported 16.2 61.2
Caribbean 12.5 10.1
Central/South America 11.7 16.3
SOURCE: Information on the source-country distribution for legal immigrants is from the Immigration and Naturalization Service records for 1993–1998. The source-country distribution estimates for illegal (undocumented) immigrants are based on Passel (1999).