moving out of a country. Emigration is exit.

Which is a pull factor?

higher wages. It attracts people to the new place.

What is the brain drain?

the loss of skilled workers from a country. Doctors and engineers leave for better pay elsewhere.

What is scapegoating?

blaming a group for problems it did not cause. Migrants are often blamed for unemployment or crime.

Why might unemployment in a country lead to negative perceptions of migrants, even if migrants did not cause it?

people look for someone to blame, and stereotypes make migrants an easy target. This is how scapegoating works.

Migration and its impact · Cambridge IGCSE Sociology

In plain words

More people live outside the country of their birth today than ever before. They carry skills, languages, recipes and ambitions with them, and both the places they leave and the places they arrive are changed by it.

7 things to know

Migration is the movement of people from one place to live in another. Immigration is moving into a country. Emigration is moving out of one.
Push factors drive people away from where they live: poverty, unemployment, war, persecution and natural disasters. Pull factors attract people to a new place: jobs, higher wages, safety, education and healthcare, and family already living there.
Migration increases cultural diversity. New languages, religions, food and music arrive. Society becomes multicultural, and hybrid identities develop.
Economic consequences for the country that receives migrants: they fill shortages of workers, pay taxes and start businesses. There can be more pressure on housing, schools and hospitals in the areas where they settle.
Economic consequences for the country that migrants leave: money sent home to families helps them and the economy. The loss of skilled workers, such as doctors and engineers, is called the brain drain.
Negative perceptions of migrants: migrants are often stereotyped, for example as taking jobs or as a burden. The media and some politicians can spread these views.
Such views lead to prejudice and discrimination. Migrants can become scapegoats, which means that they are blamed for problems they did not cause.

Worked example

A country has too few nurses, so it recruits nurses from a poorer country. Describe the economic consequences for both countries.

Receiving country: the shortage is filled, patients are cared for, and the nurses pay taxes.
Sending country: the nurses send money home, which helps their families.
But the sending country loses nurses it paid to train. This is a brain drain, and its own patients suffer.
So the same movement is a gain for one country and a mixed result for the other.

Tips and tricks

Push factors belong to the place people leave. Pull factors belong to the place they go to. Give one of each.
"Impact" questions are about both countries. Do not forget the one that people leave.

5 questions, about 2 minutes.

It lands in your notebook with its questions as flashcards.

Migration and its impact: 5 questions and answers

These are the quiz’s questions. Do the quiz first, then come back here for the ones that got you.

What is emigration?
- moving into a country
- moving out of a country (the answer)
- moving within a city
- visiting on holiday
Emigration is exit.
Which is a pull factor?
- war
- unemployment
- natural disaster
- higher wages (the answer)
It attracts people to the new place.
What is the brain drain?
- the loss of skilled workers from a country (the answer)
- a tax on education
- an illness affecting migrants
- the closing of schools
Doctors and engineers leave for better pay elsewhere.
What is scapegoating?
- blaming a group for problems it did not cause (the answer)
- welcoming migrants
- sending money home
- learning a new language
Migrants are often blamed for unemployment or crime.
Why might unemployment in a country lead to negative perceptions of migrants, even if migrants did not cause it?Stretch
- migrants always cause unemployment
- unemployed people never blame anyone
- people look for someone to blame, and stereotypes make migrants an easy target (the answer)
- migrants refuse to work
This is how scapegoating works.

5 questions

Tap an answer and you’ll see straight away whether it’s right, and why.

Worksheet

3 questions, 10 marks. Write your answers on paper, then check them.

Migration and its impact

Cambridge IGCSE Sociology 0495 · 10 marks · papermunch.org

Name ______________________________ Date ______________

What is meant by the term "immigration"?[2]
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The movement of people into a country to live there.
I got this one
Describe two push factors and two pull factors that cause migration.[4]
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Push, any two: poverty; unemployment; war; persecution; natural disasters. Pull, any two: jobs; higher wages; safety; better education or healthcare; family already there.
I got this one
Explain two ways in which immigration affects the society that receives migrants.[4]
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Any two, each explained: cultural diversity increases, as new languages, foods and traditions arrive; migrants fill job shortages and pay taxes, which helps the economy; demand for housing and services rises in some areas; negative stereotypes of migrants can lead to prejudice and tension.
I got this one

Answers: Migration and its impact

1. The movement of people into a country to live there.
2. Push, any two: poverty; unemployment; war; persecution; natural disasters. Pull, any two: jobs; higher wages; safety; better education or healthcare; family already there.
3. Any two, each explained: cultural diversity increases, as new languages, foods and traditions arrive; migrants fill job shortages and pay taxes, which helps the economy; demand for housing and services rises in some areas; negative stereotypes of migrants can lead to prejudice and tension.