Geography (9696) | Migration as a component of population change

🌍 Comprehensive Study Notes: Migration as a Component of Population Change (9696)

Hello Geographers! Welcome to one of the most dynamic topics in Human Geography: Migration. While birth rates and death rates (natural change) affect population, movement (migration) is the third critical element. Understanding why and how people move helps us explain everything from booming cities to abandoned villages and global economic inequality. Don't worry if this seems tricky at first—we'll break down the factors, types, and impacts step-by-step!

1. Defining Migration and its Fundamental Causes (Syllabus 5.1)

Migration is the movement of a person or people from one place to another. Geographically, we focus on movements that lead to a permanent or semi-permanent change of residence.

Key Definition:

Migration, in the context of this syllabus, refers to movements of populations excluding all movements of less than one year's duration. If you go on holiday for 11 months, you are a tourist, not a migrant!

a) The Causes of Migration: Push and Pull Factors

Migration never happens without a reason. We categorise these reasons into two simple groups:

• Push Factors: Reasons that force or encourage people to leave their source area (origin). These are negative features of the home location.

• Pull Factors: Reasons that attract people to a new destination area. These are positive features or perceived benefits of the new location.

Analogy: Think of a magnet. The Push Factor is the repulsive end (pushing you away), and the Pull Factor is the attractive end (drawing you in).

Push Factors (Negative)	Pull Factors (Positive)
Unemployment/low wages	Higher employment/better wages
War, political instability, persecution	Political stability, freedom, safety
Famine, drought, climatic hazards	Better climate, food security
Poor services (healthcare, education)	Good quality healthcare and education
High taxation, high housing costs	Lower cost of living, lower taxes

Key Takeaway: Migration is usually a response to a combination of strong pushes and enticing pulls. Rarely is it just one factor.

2. Processes, Patterns, and Constraints (Syllabus 5.1 Continued)

a) Processes of Migration

The syllabus specifically mentions Chain Migration:

• This occurs when prospective migrants follow previous migrants from their home area to a specific destination. It’s often based on family or community links.

• Example: A factory worker moves from rural Poland to London. Once established, they help their sibling, cousin, or friend move over later. This creates a "chain" of movers.

• This process lowers the psychological and economic costs for new arrivals, as they already have housing and job support.

b) Patterns of Migration (Distance and Age)

i) Pattern by Distance

Generally, migration streams show Distance Decay: the further away a location is, the less likely someone is to migrate there. Most migrations are short-distance.

ii) Pattern by Age

Migration is highly age selective. Who moves the most?

• Young adults (20-35 years old) are the most mobile group.

• They are educated, actively seeking work, have fewer family constraints (like children or elderly dependents), and possess the physical energy to move and restart.

• This selection has massive impacts, as source areas lose their most productive workers (the "brain drain"), while destination areas gain a youthful, working population.

c) Constraints, Obstacles, and Barriers

These are factors that prevent or hinder migration, even when strong push/pull factors exist.

• Cost: The expense of transport, visa applications, and settling in (e.g., accommodation deposits).

• National Borders/Immigration Policy: Visa restrictions, strict quotas, and legal requirements are major constraints.

• Physical Barriers: Oceans, deserts, or mountains (though modern transport has reduced this impact).

• Psychological Barriers: Fear of the unknown, language barriers, and loss of social support networks.

3. Internal Migration (Within a Country) (Syllabus 5.2)

Internal migration means moving within the borders of a single country. This often involves huge shifts in a country's population distribution, especially in developing economies.

a) Rural-Urban and Urban-Rural Movements

i) Rural-Urban Migration (The Big Trend in LICs/MICs)

• Causes: Rural areas are pushed by lack of land, poverty, and poor services. Urban areas pull with perceived economic opportunities (the "bright lights" effect).

• Impacts on Source (Rural) Areas: Loss of young, working population; ageing population structure; agricultural land abandonment; reduction in local services (shops close down).

• Impacts on Destination (Urban) Areas: Overcrowding; growth of shanty towns/squatter settlements; increased pressure on infrastructure (water, electricity, transport); a large, youthful, and cheap labour supply (seen in population pyramids).

ii) Urban-Rural Migration (Counterurbanisation in HICs)

• Causes: Urban areas push with pollution, traffic, and high housing costs. Rural areas pull with peace, green space, and lower housing density (improved by working from home/better transport).

• Impacts on Source (Urban) Areas: Reduced pressure on services; potential decline in inner-city tax base.

• Impacts on Destination (Rural) Areas: Increased house prices (locals priced out); loss of rural character; increased traffic congestion; demand for new schools and services.

b) Other Internal Movements

i) Stepped Migration within the Settlement Hierarchy

• This is when a migrant moves up the hierarchy of settlements in a series of steps.

• Example: Moving from a small village to a local small town, then to a regional large city, and finally to a major metropolis (like Lagos or Shanghai).

• Why? Moving to a huge city directly can be overwhelming. Stepped migration allows migrants to gain skills, save money, and adjust to urban life incrementally.

ii) Urban-Urban Movements

People move between different cities, usually in search of better economic opportunities (e.g., moving from a declining industrial city to a booming service-sector city).

iii) Intra-Urban Movements (Within Urban Settlements)

• These are movements within the city boundaries.

• Causes and Impacts: Often linked to the life cycle stage. A young single person may move into the busy, cheap city centre (CBD fringe). Once married with children, they move outwards to the quieter, spacious suburbs for better schools. This drives residential change and segregation within the city structure.

4. International Migration (Between Countries) (Syllabus 5.3)

International migration involves crossing national borders. This is fundamentally different from internal migration because of the legal, cultural, and political barriers involved.

a) Voluntary vs. Forced Movements

• Voluntary Movements: Migrants make a conscious choice, usually driven by economic factors (economic migration). They seek better jobs, higher salaries, or better education.

• Forced (Involuntary) Movements: Migrants are compelled to move due to external threats. These include victims of war, persecution, famine, or environmental disasters (e.g., refugee flows).

Did you know? A refugee is someone who has crossed an international border fleeing conflict or persecution. An Internally Displaced Person (IDP) has fled, but remains within their home country’s borders.

b) Causes and Patterns of International Migration

• Economic Migration: Driven by global disparities in wages and employment. The pattern is typically from LICs/MICs (source) to HICs (receiving).

• Refugee Flows: Patterns are linked to specific political conflicts (e.g., the Syrian Civil War leading to mass migration into neighbouring Turkey, Lebanon, and Europe).

c) Impacts of International Migration

We must examine the impacts on both the source (sending) country and the receiving (host) country.

Impacts on Source Areas:

Positive Impacts:

• Reduction in unemployment and pressure on resources.

• Remittances: Money sent back by migrants is a vital source of income, funding schools, healthcare, and infrastructure (e.g., Philippines, Mexico).

• Returning migrants bring back new skills, contacts, and capital.

Negative Impacts:

• Brain Drain: Loss of highly skilled and educated workers (doctors, engineers). This harms the country’s development prospects.

• Ageing population and reduced fertility rates.

• Loss of young, dynamic individuals, reducing entrepreneurship.

Impacts on Receiving/Destination Areas:

Positive Impacts:

• Fill jobs that local people are unwilling to do (often low-paid or manual labour).

• Inject new capital, skills, and entrepreneurship into the economy.

• Cultural enrichment and diversity.

• Offset an ageing population (migrants often boost birth rates).

Negative Impacts:

• Pressure on social services (schools, hospitals) and housing.

• Potential social friction or ethnic tension if local populations feel threatened.

• Wage depression in low-skill sectors due to increased labour supply.

5. The Management of International Migration (Syllabus 5.4)

Managing international migration is a massive political challenge, involving balancing economic needs against national security and social concerns.

Case Study Requirement

For your exam, you must study one detailed international migration stream. You need to know its:

• Causes: What pushes and pulls drive this specific movement?

• Character and Scale: How many people move? Who are they (age, skill level)?

• Pattern: Where exactly do they originate and where do they go?

• Impacts: Detailed positive and negative effects on both source and destination areas.

Possible Case Studies (Select one based on your teacher's guidance):

• Economic migration from Mexico to the USA.

• Refugee flow, such as from Afghanistan or Syria to European countries.

• Intra-EU migration (e.g., from Eastern Europe to Western Europe).

Management Strategies by Receiving Countries:

Governments use policy tools to control the scale and character of migrants:

• Points-Based Systems: (Common in HICs like the UK/Canada/Australia). Migrants are scored based on skills, education, age, and language proficiency. This ensures the country attracts migrants who will benefit the economy (e.g., IT professionals rather than low-skilled labour).

• Border Control and Walls: Physical barriers and increased patrols designed to reduce undocumented/illegal migration (e.g., US-Mexico border).

• Integration Policies: Providing language training and cultural orientation to help migrants settle and reduce social friction.

Management Strategies by Source Countries:

• Some countries encourage emigration to reduce unemployment and boost remittances (e.g., specific labour schemes in Pakistan and India).

• Some try to entice highly skilled migrants to return (e.g., offering tax breaks or incentives to reverse "Brain Drain").