【文章內(nèi)容簡(jiǎn)介】 the current situation with respect to immigration, which is quite different from that in the past. To understand some of the changes, it161。175。s important to note that in 1965 strict quotas based on nationality were eliminated. Let161。175。s see how different things are today from the past. As I noted, the greatest number of immigrants to the United States have historically been European. According to . Census figures, in 1860, the percentage of immigrants that were European was 92 percent. But by 1960, the percentage of European immigrants had dropped to percent, and by the year 2002, it had dropped to 14 percent! In 2002, percent of immigrants came from Latin America, that is, from the Caribbean, Central America, and South America. Mexico is ordinarily considered part of North America, but the . Census Bureau considers Mexico as a Central American country in terms of immigration statistics, and estimates that more than onethird of the total of all immigrants to the United States in 2002 came from Mexico or another Central American country. The next largest percentage, percent, of immigrants came from Asia, mainly from the Philippines, China, and India.Although immigration dropped sharply when the United States entered World War I and remained low throughout the Depression and World War II years, at the end of the l940s, immigration began to increase again and has, in general, risen steadily since then. It might surprise you to know that the actual number of immigrants ing yearly to the States in recent years is about the same as the numbers ing yearly between 1900 and 1910. Keep in mind, though, that the population of the United States is much larger now than at the turn of the century, so that while the yearly numbers may be similar, the percentage of the population that is foreignborn is considerably smaller today than it was a century ago.It might be interesting to speculate on immigration in the future. Will the trend continue for nonEuropeans to immigrate to the United States? The answer is probably yes for the foreseeable future. Do these nonEuropean people e to the United States for the same reasons that Europeans came? Well, land is no longer plentiful and cheap. Industry no longer requires large numbers of unskilled workers. In fact, the government usually tries to restrict immigration to those people who already have the skills to be successful in . society. Still, people e for politica1 and economic reasons and probably will continue to do so.Chapter 3 Americans at WorkWhether you love it or hate it, work is a major part of most people161。175。s lives everywhere in the world. Americans are no exception. Americans might plain about 161。176。blue Monday,161。177。 when they have to go back to work after the weekend, but most people put a lot of importance on their job, not only in terms of money but also in terms of identity. In fact, when Americans are introduced to a new person, they almost always ask each other, 161。176。What do you do?161。177。 They are asking, what is your job or profession. Today, however, we won161。175。t look at work in terms of what work means socially or psychologically. Rather, we161。175。re going to take a look at work in the United States today from two perspectives. First, we161。175。ll take a historical look at work in America. We161。175。ll do that by looking at how things changed for the American worker from the beginning to the end of the twentieth century, that is, from the year 1900 to the year 1999. Then we161。175。ll look at how . workers are doing today.As we look at the changes over the last century, we161。175。re going to use a lot of statistics to describe these changes. You will need to write down a lot of numbers in today161。175。s lecture. First, let161。175。s consider how the type of work people were involved in changed. At the beginning of the twentieth century, about 38 percent of the workforce was involved in agriculture。 that is, they worked on a farm. By the end of the century, only 3 percent still worked on farms. There was also a large decrease in the number of people working in mining, manufacturing, and construction. The number of workers in mining, manufacturing, and construction went down from 31 percent to 19 percent.While the number of people in these goods producing industries went down, the number of people in the service industries went up. As you may know, a service industry is one that provides a service, rather than goods or products. A few examples include transportation, tourism, banking, advertising, health care, and legal services. I161。175。m sure you can think of more. The service industry workforce jumped from 31 percent of the workforce at the turn of the century to 78 percent in 1999.Let161。175。s recap the numbers: in 1900, 38 percent in agriculture。 31 percent in mining, manufacturing, and construction。 and 31 percent in the service industries. That should add up to 100 percent. In 1999, 3 percent in agriculture。 19 percent in mining, manufacturing, and construction。 and 78 percent in the service industries. Again, that should add up to 100 percent.The labor force changed in other important ways. For example, child labor was not unusual at the beginning of the twentieth century. In 1900 there were 1, 750, 000 children aged ten to fifteen working fulltime in the labor force. This was 6 percent of the labor force. Over the years, child labor laws became much stricter and by 1999, it was illegal for anyone under sixteen to work fulltime in any of the fifty states. While the number of children in the workforce went down, the number of women went up dramatically. In 1900, only 19 percent of women were employed。 in 1999, 60 percent of women were holding down jobs.Let161。175。s see what has happened to wages and salaries. All the numbers I will give you are in terms of 1999 dollars. Let me explain. In 1900 the average per capita ine was $4,200 a year. That does not mean that the average worker in 1900 earned $4,200, a year, but that what he or she earned was equal to $4, 200 in 1999. T