Migration is a long-term move from one place to another to live. A trip to visit family is not migration; moving to a new city for a job is. This topic asks why people move.
Push and pull
- A push factor is a problem at the origin that drives people away: low wages, drought, war, persecution, few schools.
- A pull factor is an attraction at the destination that draws people in: jobs, higher pay, safety, good schools, relatives already living there.
Name each factor by where it is. Jobs in the city pull; the lack of jobs at home pushes. On the exam, readers check that a push factor is placed at the origin.
Between origin and destination
- An intervening obstacle is something between the two places that makes the move harder: distance, the cost of travel, a border or visa rules, a sea, a desert or a mountain range. The Darién Gap, a roadless rainforest between Colombia and Panama, is a dangerous obstacle for migrants heading north on foot.
- An intervening opportunity is an attraction along the way that may lead a migrant to stop short of the planned destination: a job offer, a place to stay or a town that is easier to reach.
Five kinds of cause
| Kind | Push example | Pull example |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | Prices soared and jobs disappeared in Venezuela after about 2015 | Higher wages in Germany drew workers in the 2010s |
| Political | War in Syria after 2011 | A stable, democratic government |
| Environmental | Drought in the Sahel; floods and rising seas in coastal Bangladesh | A milder climate, such as retirees moving to Florida |
| Cultural | Persecution for religion or language | Freedom of religion; a community that shares your language |
| Demographic | Many young adults and too few jobs | An aging country short of workers, such as Japan |
Most moves combine causes. A farmer in the Sahel who leaves after a drought faces an environmental push and an economic one (lost income), and is pulled by jobs in a coastal city.
Reading a migration story
Worked example. "A drought ruined our crops (environmental push). My cousin said the city factories paid twice as much (economic pull). The bus ticket cost a month’s pay (intervening obstacle). A hotel on the way offered me work (intervening opportunity), but I kept going."
Notice that the same idea can be seen from both ends. Low pay at home and high pay abroad are a push and a pull. Answers earn credit when they say which end they mean and name a real place.
Push and pull as a model
Push and pull is a simple way to explain moves, and it fits many cases. Its limits: it treats migrants as if they weigh costs and benefits freely, but some people have no choice (the next topic), and many people facing the same push factors stay put because they lack money, information or contacts. Who moves depends on more than the factors themselves.