U.S. employers have counted on a steady flow of labor from Mexico

Discussed here in detail

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For years, U.S. employers have counted on a steady flow
of labor from Mexico willing to accept low-skilled, low
paying jobs. These workers, many of whom leave
economically depressed villages in the Mexican interior,
are often more than willing to work for wages well below
both the U.S. minimum wage and the poverty line.
However, thanks to a dramatic demographic shift currently
taking place in Mexico, the seemingly inexhaustible supply
of workers migrating from Mexico to the United States
might one day greatly diminish if not cease.
Predictions of such a drastic decrease in the number of
Mexican immigrants, both legal and illegal, are driven by
Mexico’s rapidly diminishing population growth. As a result
of a decades-long family planning campaign, most
Mexicans are having far fewer children than was the norm
a generation ago. The campaign, organized around the
slogan that “the small family lives better,” saw the Mexican
government establish family-planning clinics and offer free
contraception. For nearly three decades, the government’s
message concerning population hasn’t wavered. In fact,
the Mexican Senate recently voted to extend public school
sex education programs to kindergarten.
The result of Mexico’s efforts to stem population growth
is nothing short of stunning. In 1968, the average Mexican
woman had just fewer than seven children; today, the
figure is slightly more than two. For two primary reasons,
Mexico’s new demographics could greatly impact the
number of Mexicans seeking work in the U.S. First, smaller
families by their nature limit the pool of potential migrants.
Second, the slowing of Mexico’s population growth has
fostered hope that Mexico will develop a healthy middle
class of people content to make their livelihoods in their
home country.
Though the former of these factors is all but assured, the
growth of a healthy middle class is far from a foregone
conclusion. The critical challenge for Mexico is what it
does with the next 20 years. Mexico must invest in
education, job training, and infrastructure, as well as a
social-security system to protect its aging population. If
Mexico is willing to step forward and meet this challenge,
America may one day wake up to find that, like cheap
gasoline, cheap Mexican labor has become a thing of the
past.



1. The passage does NOT indicate which of the following
concerning Mexico’s current demographics?
A. Due to the government’s family planning campaign,
Mexico’s population is currently diminishing.
B. On average, Mexican women are having
approximately one-third the number of children that
they had in 1968.
C. Many Mexicans still migrate to the United States in
search of work.
D. As a result of declining birth rates, Mexico’s
population is aging.
E. A healthy middle class in Mexico has not yet fully
developed.


2. Which of the following can be inferred about U.S.
employers of Mexican immigrants?
A. Most of these employers pay Mexican immigrants less
money than they pay American citizens.
B. Some of these employers violate wage laws.
C. Many of these employers work in the agricultural
industry.
D. Without Mexican immigrants, some of these
employers would be forced to close their businesses.
E. The majority of these employers show no concern
for the welfare of their workers.


3. With which of the following statements would the
author of the passage MOST likely agree?
A. The United States will soon have to replace lost
Mexican labor with labor provided by other immigrant
groups.
B. It is difficult for a country with a large population to
develop a healthy middle class.
C. Many Mexican immigrants who work in the United
States believe that they are taken advantage of by
American employers.
D. Most rapidly growing countries should institute a
family planning campaign to limit population growth.
E. Mexico does not currently have the infrastructure to
develop a healthy middle class


4. One function of the final paragraph of the passage is
to
A. relate why the number of Mexican immigrants seeking
work in the United States is certain to decline.
B. detail the successes of Mexico’s family planning
campaign.
C. explain why the number of Mexican immigrants
seeking work in the United States may not
dramatically decrease.
D. specify the types of infrastructure in which Mexico
must invest.
E. notify American employers that they will soon need
to find alternative sources of labor.