Geography Essay

Roshanak Shahrokh 1IB

Discuss the relative importance of socio-economic factors as a cause of
migration.

Migration is the geographical movement of people, either from one country to

another, or internally, urban to rural areas of their own country. Migration can be forced, or
voluntary; forced migration is when a population leaves its area due to political reasons,
natural disasters or dangers, while voluntary migration is a decision made by individuals.
Granted, voluntary migration can be influenced by social, , cultural, economic, or other
reasons, but there is no immediate need to flee the country. Social-economic factors as a
cause of migration include education, social traditions, income, and medical availability.
Education holds a major position in our society, and influences many of our daily
decisions, including where we live. Many families, from all over the world, move together,
or send their children, to places they infer the children will be in a better school, and
somewhere that will be useful to them and their next generation in the future. In Mexico, for
example, many families made the difficult decision of seperating themselves from a culture
and community they were used to so that they could provide a better life for themselves and
their children. This migration from Mexico to the U.S.A. occurred due to the pull factor of a
search of a better education system in a more advanced country that also has lots of latino
culture incorporated in the south where they mostly migrated. This seemed like an appealing
option due to the difference in literacy rate in the two countries: 86% in Mexico versus 99%
in the U.S. The average age to leave school also has a two year difference of 14 years old to
16 years old, which is quite a lot of time when you consider all the new information taught
in those two years going into high school.
Another push and pull factor is income and job opportunities. These days, our lives
are dominated by what we can to do to have a higher income, a better job. Mexicans, again,
were part of a very large migration around 1850 to California, drawn by the Gold Rush,
presenting an economic opportunity for them that wasn't available in their home country.
Between then and today, a lot of the population migrated north to the U.S.A. in search of a
better source of income, or job opportunities, which was a wise decision considering 47% of
the population lived under the poverty line. It's understandable why the Mexicans would
choose the U.S. over Mexico to pursue a good salary considering its 53 000$ GNP per
capita, contrary to their 10 600$ GNP, and the rapid increase of the unemployment rate in
Mexico that went from 2.2 in 2000 to 5.4 in 2010.

International migration is not the only sort in existance, we also have cases of internal
migration, in most cases rural to urban or urban to rural movement. In France for example,
some of the population has recently moved to suburban areas surrounding larger cities, and
commute to work in order to provide a bigger home for their families, due to lower living
costs, or simply for the fresher air. Others may have moved to put their children in a calmer
environment where they might learn better and have a closer childhood to that of their
parents, in a smaller community and with nicer neighborhoods and more contact with
nature.
People generally migrate to gain something that will positively influence their lives;
socio-economic factors are relatively important in the form of a cause of voluntary
migration. They are a main source of influence on people who are considering migration
due to a lack of adequate economic and/or social habits in their country or area of origin.