5.1 Migration as a component of population change

Question 1

What are the Push Factors of Migration?

Answer 1

• high unemployment, low job opportunity and low wages causing economic difficulty
• environmental quality low; lots of pollution, hazardous environment e.g toxic waste, poor access to clean drinking water and sanitation
• war/persecution in home country
• political unrest
• poor public services
• overall low quality of life

Question 2

What are the pull factors of migration?

Answer 2

• more job opportunities with higher wages and safer working conditions
• environment better: access to clean water, sanitation, central heating in homes etc
• no wars/persecution - people can live freely
• better public services( education, healthcare etc)
• more leisure activities (especially due to higher disposable income)

Question 3

What are the 3 different process of migration?

Answer 3

Chain migration
Stepped migration
Illegal migration

Question 4

What is chained migration?

Answer 4

• Chain migration is where people from a particular location follow others from
  the same source region, who have moved to the same destination.
  Advantages could be:
• the second or later waves gain information, get help with transport
  and/or have places to stay and work from the earlier wave(s) of
  migrants
• e.g large polish population in Bedford

Question 5

What is stepped migration?

Answer 5

• the gradual movement from origin to destination through multiple moves that climb up the settlement hierarchy
  e.g migration from village to small town. then to regional city, then to capital city

Question 6

What is illegal immigration?

Answer 6

• migration that violates the law of the country being migrated to
• may refer to the movement into the country or staying in the country when no longer legally allowed to e.g visa expiring

Question 7

What are the patterns of migration?

Answer 7

• greatest body of migrants travel short distances
• people in urban areas move less than those in rural areas
• males migrate more over long distances, females over short
• most migrants between 20-34 yrs

Question 8

What are the main intervening obstacles of migration?

Answer 8

Economic:
1. Closing up costs: cost of closing up affairs in origin location, e.g selling house
2. Actual transport costs: depend mode/length
3. Opening up costs: fees on buying new property in destination/ other legal costs such as visa costs

Social:
1. Long and time consuming process to apply for citizenship/visas
2. Human dangers along borders: when travelling being robbed etc
3. Skills required for visas: some countries, e.g Canada skills test is required and only certain trades/professions allowed entry into the country
4. Borders: border enforcements

Question 9

What are the migration theories?

Answer 9

Todaro model:
a migrant’s decision to migrate can be explained with economic costs/benefits - Migrants willing to endure short financial difficulty for better future.
Starks new economies of migration model:
- family’s economic situation may change as a child migrates from a rural to urban areas in LICs
- argues Todaro’s model only considers individual migrating, but most migrants think of their family as well
Marxist theory:
- capitalism is the cause of most migration within LICs/from LICS to HICs
- cheap migrant labour from LICs used to aid production for large capitalist HICs companies
- the HICs companies benefit more from this than migrants

Question 10

What is migration?

Answer 10

permanent change of residence of an individual/group of people that lasts for more than a year

Question 11

What is an immigrant/emigrant?

Answer 11

Immigrant: someone who moves into a country.
Emigrant: someone who leaves their country.

Question 12

What is internal migration?

Answer 12

Internal Migration: when people move from one place to another inside a country.

Question 13

What is distance decay?

Answer 13

as the distance increases between source and destination, the number of migrants reduces.