4 ms·

From 3% to 38%, America Has Seen a Staggering Growth in Passport Holders

16 points by alexcasalboni 12y ago

cguess 12y ago
While interesting... is there no commentary or discussion about the causation? Thanks for posting the graph, but I'd be very curious why people think this has happened.
- serge2k 12y ago
  They do point out that since 2007 you need to have a passport to enter the states via air.
- esrauch 12y ago
  Since 2009 Canada started requiring a passport from everyone, even for land travel from the US (before that they accepted drivers licenses in some conditions, still accept "enhanced drivers licenses" in some cases)
- IvyMike 12y ago
  My theory: during the cold war, there was "America is the best" propaganda which even though it was really anti-Soviet, ended up discouraging people from travelling anywhere. Berlin wall fell in 1989, the cold war propaganda tapered off, and travel to foreign countries slowly ramped up.
  - brandonmenc 12y ago
    Doubtful. Cheaper airfare and people starting families much later (easier to travel when you're a single adult) are more likely factors.
  - IvyMike 12y ago
    May I ask why the downvote? My speculation may or may not be correct, but despite @brandonmenc's objection, I still think it's a possible factor. It certainly matches the attitudes of my relatives and other adults when I was a child growing up in the 80's. It's also more closely tied to the start of the trend line than some of the other theories in this thread, and was posted as a good faith response to @cguess.
- philwelch 12y ago
  After 9/11, the U.S. started requiring a passport to reenter the country, even from Canada or Mexico.
gizmo686 12y ago
Interesting, that growth pattern looks linear.
radicality 12y ago
Anyone else find it crazy that it's still _only_ 38%? Just for interest, I looked up the stats for the UK, and this [1] article from 2009 gives the figure of 80%. [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3127696.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3127696.stm
- philwelch 12y ago
  The entire UK is the size of a small US state. You can literally just get drunk, black out, and wake up in a different country. (Citation: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509837/Teenager-went-drunken-night-Oldham-woke-PARIS.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509837/Teenager-wen...) In the US, you could travel the equivalent distance of London to Serbia and still not leave the country. That has a huge impact on passport statistics.
  - jdietrich 12y ago
    That argument falls apart if you look at European countries within the Schengen area. The US is less populous and less diverse than the Schengen free travel area, but most EU countries have drastically higher rates of passport ownership than the US. The immense opportunities for passport-free travel do not seem to deter Europeans from getting a passport. I think the fundamental explanation for the disparity is that Americans are starved of vacation time, so find it much less appealing to travel internationally. The EU minimum of four weeks paid vacation is exceptionally generous by US standards; In many EU countries the average worker receives five or six weeks of paid vacation, which is almost unheard of in the US.
    - philwelch 12y ago
      The U.S. is also larger than the Schengen area. Plus, air travel from Europe is considerably cheaper than air travel from the United States, while gasoline is much cheaper in the United States. Besides, we were comparing to the UK, which is not part of the Schengen area but is right next to it. Of course Britons are going to have passports.
cafard 12y ago
I can understand the growth--citizens of the US could travel into Canada with minimal identification in the old days. And I can understand it not being higher. The US is a very big place, with much to see for one thing. And some of the habits formed in the days of cheap gasoline and expensive airfares persist among people who could fly abroad for cost of a long road trip. (Well, the airlines have the whip hand again on pricing, but still...)

16 points by alexcasalboni 12y ago

While interesting... is there no commentary or discussion about the causation? Thanks for posting the graph, but I'd be very curious why people think this has happened.

serge2k 12y ago
They do point out that since 2007 you need to have a passport to enter the states via air.
esrauch 12y ago
Since 2009 Canada started requiring a passport from everyone, even for land travel from the US (before that they accepted drivers licenses in some conditions, still accept "enhanced drivers licenses" in some cases)
IvyMike 12y ago
My theory: during the cold war, there was "America is the best" propaganda which even though it was really anti-Soviet, ended up discouraging people from travelling anywhere. Berlin wall fell in 1989, the cold war propaganda tapered off, and travel to foreign countries slowly ramped up.
- brandonmenc 12y ago
  Doubtful. Cheaper airfare and people starting families much later (easier to travel when you're a single adult) are more likely factors.
- IvyMike 12y ago
  May I ask why the downvote? My speculation may or may not be correct, but despite @brandonmenc's objection, I still think it's a possible factor. It certainly matches the attitudes of my relatives and other adults when I was a child growing up in the 80's. It's also more closely tied to the start of the trend line than some of the other theories in this thread, and was posted as a good faith response to @cguess.
philwelch 12y ago
After 9/11, the U.S. started requiring a passport to reenter the country, even from Canada or Mexico.

gizmo686 12y ago

Interesting, that growth pattern looks linear.

radicality 12y ago

Anyone else find it crazy that it's still _only_ 38%? Just for interest, I looked up the stats for the UK, and this [1] article from 2009 gives the figure of 80%. [1] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3127696.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3127696.stm

philwelch 12y ago
The entire UK is the size of a small US state. You can literally just get drunk, black out, and wake up in a different country. (Citation: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509837/Teenager-went-drunken-night-Oldham-woke-PARIS.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2509837/Teenager-wen...) In the US, you could travel the equivalent distance of London to Serbia and still not leave the country. That has a huge impact on passport statistics.
- jdietrich 12y ago
  That argument falls apart if you look at European countries within the Schengen area. The US is less populous and less diverse than the Schengen free travel area, but most EU countries have drastically higher rates of passport ownership than the US. The immense opportunities for passport-free travel do not seem to deter Europeans from getting a passport. I think the fundamental explanation for the disparity is that Americans are starved of vacation time, so find it much less appealing to travel internationally. The EU minimum of four weeks paid vacation is exceptionally generous by US standards; In many EU countries the average worker receives five or six weeks of paid vacation, which is almost unheard of in the US.
  - philwelch 12y ago
    The U.S. is also larger than the Schengen area. Plus, air travel from Europe is considerably cheaper than air travel from the United States, while gasoline is much cheaper in the United States. Besides, we were comparing to the UK, which is not part of the Schengen area but is right next to it. Of course Britons are going to have passports.

cafard 12y ago

I can understand the growth--citizens of the US could travel into Canada with minimal identification in the old days. And I can understand it not being higher. The US is a very big place, with much to see for one thing. And some of the habits formed in the days of cheap gasoline and expensive airfares persist among people who could fly abroad for cost of a long road trip. (Well, the airlines have the whip hand again on pricing, but still...)