Singh, K. (2022, December 22). U.S. population growth inches higher in 2022, driven by immigration. Retrieved January 29, 2023, from https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-population-growth-inches-higher-2022-driven-by-immigration-2022-12-22/
In the year 2021, the US experienced its lowest annual growth of fewer than 1 million people, a record not hit since 1937, and representing the lowest numeric growth since 1900. The Census Bureau stated that the primary driver of this growth was net international migration, which accounted for the addition of 1.01 million people to the population of the US between 2021 and 2022; this contrasted greatly with the previous year’s migration recording of 376,000, signifying a return to pre-pandemic times. In a quote released by Kristie Wilder, a demographer in the population division of the Census Bureau, it was stated that “Florida has often been among the largest-gaining states” and that, “this was the first time since 1957 that Florida has been the state with the largest percent increase in population,” In fact, 18 states experienced a population decline in 2022, California included, compared to that lost in only 15 states the previous year.
The reason this article discusses not only the rapid increase in population within the US in the past year of 2022, but also the decrease in 2021, and how the past seems to be repeating itself. Tying in trends from the 1930s, a unique connection between the Great Depression and the pandemic is made, a point that almost seems to be a nod to other connections people have made with previous happenings. The Spanish Flu, for example, was one Covid had been heavily compared to, but as far as population growth is concerned, it seems that the 1930s had more of a similar effect on the United States
It is interesting to see how international migration seems to be correlated to social, political, or economic upheavals such as with covid or the Great Depression. Why do you think the Great Depression, compared to the Spanish Flu, had a more similar effect to covid? One would think that the pandemics would be similar, so why are they not?
I really enjoyed reading your post, I found it interesting that migration was one of the major causes of population growth. What do you think caused the unique connection between the Great Depression and the pandemic in terms of their effects on population growth in the United States?