Migration is “the movement of a person or people from one country, locality, place of residence, etc., to settle in another” (“Migration” def 1.a). The earliest accounts of migration could be dated back from the existence of nomads wherein these people would move from place to place due to various reasons primarily for their survival. However, as a lot of factors changes like the environment and the surroundings, people's lifestyle and economic factors, other reasons of migration can be noted. The objective of this paper is to enumerate the prominent reasons of migration and its effects on different aspects, especially the social and economic aspects.
Reasons for Migration
Although there are a lot of reasons for migration, BBC.co.uk classified these reasons into four. The first one is economic migration. This is probably the first reason why people from the less-developed countries migrate to industrialized ones. The people are moving to find jobs because of low employment rates on their region, low salary on available jobs (not enough for sustainable living), or just to practice profession on a better environment.
In some cases, however, people from industrialized countries move to developing ones because the cost of living expenses is very high from the place of origin. Once settled, they often start businesses without worrying too much on expenses because of lower prices.
Another classification is the social migration. This is somehow linked to economic migration. People move to other places hoping to get a better job and have a good life. Although at first, only the workers of the family move, eventually the other family members will be asked to move with them for convenience. Sometimes, education is the reason for migration. Some parents would send their children overseas to have a more affordable and better education. Others would prefer studying in foreign universities with top-class facilities, or even just experiencing being an exchange student. Other factors that result to social migration may include taking safety measures (low crime rates), having improved health and sanitation, and finding better or affordable social services.
The next one is political migration. This is triggered by the presence of political turmoil or war. Weareoneamerica.org also suggests governmental oppression as one of the reasons that belong to this classification.
Lastly is the environmental migration. As the world climate changes over time, add to that the irregular weather patterns and increased occurrence of natural disasters, these could be one of the reasons why people are forced to migrate. These do not only affect people, but also the crops and livelihood that can help support themselves as well as the economy.
Effects of Migration
There could be advantages and disadvantages of migration depending on the viewer’s standpoint—whether from the place of origin or to the place of temporary (or permanent) settlement. One effect could be the replacement of workforce. Underpopulated industrialized countries like Japan, Germany and Ukraine are already experiencing “underpopulation bomb” (Kelly, “The Underpopulation Bomb”). As time progresses, less offspring are being produced, increasing the population of the elderly and decreasing the population of the workforce. Thus, aside from giving out government subsidies to couples, the government itself provides jobs that can attract migrants to work for them. However, this is not always the case for all industrialized countries. Although some of them offer a lot of job opportunities, having more migrant workers going to the same place could result into scarcity of common resources due to overpopulation.
Being a common scenario in less developed countries, brain drain is the “loss of skilled intellectual and technical labor through the movement of such labor to more favorable geographic, economic, or professional environments (“Brain drain”). This has an economic impact on both places. As more professionals migrate to find high-paying jobs, the number of skilled workers that will be left to provide the same amount of services will be less. This can worsen the economy of the region as the workforce is lessened. As for the place that will accept the skilled workers, they can provide better services, although this would cost additional resources.
Migrant workers work overseas to earn money for themselves or for their families. In the latter case, they would send part of their earnings through remittances. These remittances can help both the country of settlement and home country. Families who receive them sometimes use them to start small businesses which in turn earn and generate incomes for themselves. These remittances “can alleviate foreign exchange constraints and reduce the cost of borrowing for countries of origin.” (“International Immigration 2006”)
Conclusion
Migration had always been there since the early civilization, and this was caused by continuous change in the environment and on how the world works. Comparing the present from the past, there are now a lot more reasons to migrate. However, whether forced or planned, the reasons still sum down to two things: either for practicality and survival or for the betterment of oneself and the people around him. There are also advantageous and disadvantageous effects of migration but the effects on the economy in both places of origin and destination are the most evident ones.
Works Cited
“An Age of Migration: Globalization and the Root Causes of Migration.” Weareoneamerica.org. One America, n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
“Brain drain.” The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. 4th ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2009. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
Kelly, Kevin. “The Underpopulation Bomb.” Edge.org. Edge Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Sept 2014.
“Migration.” Def. 1.a. Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2014. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division. International Immigration 2006. 2006. PDF file.
“Why do people migrate?” Migration Trends. BBC.co.uk., n.d. Web. 29 Sept. 2014.
