We usually talk about economic migration between countries—when people immigrate from one country to another. But moving around within a country can also be considered economic migration; moving from the countryside to a city is a particularly big trend.
Economic migration causes all kinds of big debates. According to the World Bank, international migration helps to increase world GDP , as it allows workers to move to where they are most productive. Migrants also tend to contribute more to the public purse in taxes than they take out because they are usually of working age , meaning they are less likely to depend on state resources, and more likely to be working and paying taxes.
However, economic migrants are often blamed for increasing competition for jobs , which can put downward pressures on wages and employment prospects for some domestic workers. People also worry about the longer term effects of migration on government spending especially when migrants bring their families who may not be working , as more people put a bigger strain on health, education, transportation and other state services.
On one hand people worry that their best and brightest will leave the country in droves for higher salaries abroad , often after after receiving years of publicly funded education.
But on the other hand, economic migrants usually send money back to their home country —these transfers are called remittances. Often, countries rely in large part on the money they get from remittances — worldwide the total coming in from remittances is about 3 times the amount sent as foreign aid. The question of whether economic migration is good or bad touches on a lot more than just economics.
There are social, cultural, and moral arguments used to argue for and against migration, as well as security concerns raised by letting people move back and forth. So far, economic migration has been one of the biggest and most divisive political questions of 21st century , and it seems likely to be central part of our politics going forward.
This site uses JavaScript. Please enable it to get the full experience. Learn Arrow. Map Sections. Your World. Migration can bring advantages and disadvantages to the country which is losing people and also to the host country.
In addition, there are a number of obstacles that the migrant may need to overcome, including:. Migrants come to the UK from a variety of countries. People from the UK also emigrate to countries around the world. Immigration is not new and the UK has been a multicultural society for thousands of years. Many people in the UK are descended from previous settlers and invaders such as the Romans, Vikings, Saxons and Normans. Recent migrants include people from other European countries such as Poland.
Any European Union resident is usually free to work in other European Union countries. This freedom of movement has encouraged migration. Another type of migrant is an asylum seeker , someone who has been forced to leave their own country because they are in danger, eg fleeing as a result of their religious beliefs or the danger of war.
Cause and effects of migration Migration is the movement of people from one permanent home to another. Why do people migrate? Advantages and disadvantages of migration Migration can bring advantages and disadvantages to the country which is losing people and also to the host country.
The arguments in favour of the facilitation of human mobility are not only human rights-based, but also demographic, social and economic. No one puts in question anymore the impact that ageing populations, low birth rates, longer life expectancy and urbanisation have in the economies and social protection systems of developed and high-middle income countries. The links between migration and development of countries of origin and destination are also much better understood and recognised today, and States are adopting policies and systems that enhance the positive impact of migration into their development and economic growth planning.
Despite the general acceptance that migration is inevitable, necessary and desirable, there is a worrying rise in discrimination, xenophobia, exclusion, and human rights violations of migrants throughout the world. The general public has predominantly negative feelings about migration and migrants, and a sense that governments do not have matters properly under control.
This public perception has restricted the ability of politicians to advance the economic arguments in their discourse about migration and develop more realistic and fact-based policy and legislative frameworks. That is why, I wish to challenge today some of the current misperceptions about migration and the distorted way in which migration issues are discussed.
I strongly believe that we need a more balanced and evidence-based debate about migration, where the real facts are presented and discussed openly. First, a common misperception is that there are too many immigrants. Misconceptions so distort reality that in some European countries ordinary citizens estimate the number of immigrants at three times more than there really are.
The Transatlantic Trends survey conducted by the German Marshall Fund showed that misinformation about basic migration facts is a key factor responsible for anti-immigrant sentiment. In countries like the U. A second misperception is that the majority of migrants come from the poorest parts of the world. Over a fifth of migrants move across developed countries. People are just as likely to move between countries in the South as they are to move from South to North.
Third, migration is commonly perceived as solely an immigration issue. How many Europeans are aware that the British diaspora, some 5 million people, is the eighth largest in the world? We need to change our mind-set, especially given that a growing number of people are moving from the North to the South in search of work.
You are all familiar with examples of Portuguese moving to Angola or Spanish moving to Argentina, for instance. Migration is now a global phenomenon affecting nearly all countries of the world. Coming as I do from Costa Rica, I am not going to pretend that migration does not have its downsides.
But what I would like to do today is to outline some of the key benefits of migration. Too often the media and public debate about migration focuses only on the negative aspects of migration. The reality is that migration brings huge benefits, fuelling growth, innovation and entrepreneurship in both the countries people come from, and in those they move to. When governed humanely to promote safety, order and dignity, migration has endless advantages. It provides opportunities, and raises incomes and living standards.
These benefits are important to keep in mind because in Europe, where more, not less, migration will probably be needed in the future. With no further migration to the EU, the population of the EU27 will be 58 million less than it was in according to Eurostat data. Contrary to public perceptions that European countries do not need migrants, the reality is that migrants mitigate the effects of an ageing and shrinking population and will be key in the sustainability of the dependency rates.
Because of this reason, let me start by the benefits that that migration brings to the countries of destination and try to dispel some of the myths that exist.
A particularly strong misperception is that the EU does not need low-skilled immigrants. On the contrary, low-skilled migrants contribute to the functioning of the European economy by taking up jobs undesirable to natives, which in turns allows natives to take up higher-skilled and more remunerative employment.
OECD forecasts show that for some countries like Italy, sectors requiring a low-skilled workforce like home care as well as food preparation and services will continue to grow.
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