Migration: Causes, Impacts and Management

People on the move

Migration is the movement of people from one place to live in another. People have always moved, and they move for many reasons. Some choose to move for work or a better life, which is voluntary migration; others are forced to move to escape danger such as conflict or disaster. The reasons that make people leave a place are called push factors, and the reasons that attract them to a new place are called pull factors. Migration affects both the place people leave and the place they go to, in ways that can be positive and negative for each. This module covers the types of migration, its causes, its impacts, and how it is managed.

Migration words

Learn these terms before the causes are described. They name the movement and the reasons behind it.

Match each migration term to its meaning

Push factors against pull factors

Migration is usually explained by two sets of reasons working together: what pushes people away from one place and what pulls them towards another.

Push factor or pull factor?

A shortage of jobs makes people want to leave an area. What kind of factor is this?

• A push factor
• A pull factor
• Neither kind of factor
• An impact of migration

Impacts on both places

Migration changes both the place people leave and the place they arrive, and a fair answer looks at both, with the good and the bad. The place people leave may lose workers, but those who move often send money back to help their families. The place people arrive may gain workers, skills and a richer mix of cultures, but services such as housing and schools may come under pressure. None of this makes migration simply good or bad; it makes it something to understand from more than one side. When you write about migration, take the origin and the destination in turn, give a positive and a negative for each, and stay factual and fair.

Pick the push factors

Select every reason that is a push factor, making people want to leave a place.

• A lack of jobs
• Conflict or war
• A natural disaster
• The safety of a new country
• The chance of work elsewhere

Order how to analyse a migration

Put the steps of analysing a migration in a sensible order.

• Identify the type of migration
• Identify the push factors
• Identify the pull factors
• Consider the impacts on both places
• Consider how it can be managed

Complete the migration facts

The movement of people to live in another place is _____. A reason that makes people want to leave is a _____ factor. A reason that attracts people to a place is a _____ factor. Moving to escape danger is _____ migration.

One move, two places affected

Imagine a young worker who leaves a rural area with few jobs and moves to a large city to find work. For them, the lack of jobs was a push factor and the chance of work was a pull factor. Now look at the two places. The rural area they left loses a young worker, which can leave gaps, but the worker sends money home that helps their family and the local shops. The city they join gains a worker and their skills, and over time a more varied community, but its housing and transport feel a little more pressure. Notice that the same move brings both gains and strains, and to each place. Explaining migration means holding both places and both sides in view at once.

Tap the pull factors

Tap the TWO reasons that are pull factors, attracting people to a place.

• the chance of work
• safety and stability
• conflict at home
• a lack of jobs at home

The migration run

Answer each one correctly to keep your lives. Choose the best answer.

Read each migration situation

Read each situation and choose the best answer.

• People leave an area because of a natural disaster. What kind of migration is most likely?
• A place that people move to gains workers but its housing comes under pressure. What does this show?
• You are asked to write fairly about a migration. What should you include?

Build a balanced migration point

Choose the word for each gap to complete one balanced point about migration.

Explain the causes and impacts of migration

A friend thinks migration is simply either a good thing or a bad thing. Using what you have learned, explain the causes and impacts of migration in a fair and balanced way.

• Explain what migration is and its main types
• Explain the difference between push and pull factors
• Explain the impacts on the place people leave
• Explain the impacts on the place people move to
• Explain why a balanced view gives both positives and negatives