State demographer outlines consequences of Minnesota’s ongoing loss of young people
Center of the American Experiment has long warned of the economic consequences of our state’s constant loss of residents to other parts of the United States.
A common response from the state’s Babbitts has been that those leaving are “only” retirees, so we ought not to worry so much. Data show that this isn’t actually true, and it is striking that when it was — mistakenly — reported that the state was gaining retirees, those same Babbitts were cock-a-hoop at what was, they now told us, an injection of economic steroids.
But reality can only be denied for so long and the truth of Minnesota’s loss of residents is now being more openly discussed. A couple of weeks back, WCCO reported:
The workforce in Minnesota is growing, but slowly, as more young people move to other states compared to those settling in Minnesota, the state’s demographer [Susan Brower] said Wednesday.
That sluggish increase in the number of people who have a job or are looking for one could stunt economic growth and create workforce shortages for employers. Contributing to that slowdown is an aging population and falling birth rates.
…
Residents in their late teens and twenties are most likely to move to another state — and the greatest losses happen when students move away for college. Not enough return after they have a degree, she said, to outpace the number leaving.
…
Minnesota had a net loss of 3,000 workers due to people leaving for other states in 2023, Brower said. She presented the data to the Senate panel for an informational hearing; lawmakers did not discuss any specific legislation or policy, but simply asked questions about the trends in Minnesota’s workforce.
These will be hard words for Minnesota’s boosters to hear, but if the denial of the DFL Representatives on the House Ways and Means Committee on Monday is any indication, they are words they need to hear again and again and they will from a growing number of people.
Photo: opencampusmedia via X