✅ Positive
Economic: a better paid job and a higher income, with more to save or send home.
Social: safety from war or from being treated cruelly because of who they are.
Environmental: may escape a hazard such as drought or flooding.
International Migration » Impacts of International Migration
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Cambridge spec: 6.3.3
- The impacts of international migration on the migrant, the country of origin and the destination country
- How to sort impacts as social, economic and environmental, positive and negative
- Key terms such as remittances, brain drain, exploitation and cultural diversity
- How to give a balanced answer, because the same impact can help one group and harm another
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Unlock This CourseThree groups affected
International migration changes lives in three places at once. Remember from the last lesson that an emigrant leaves a country and an immigrant arrives in one. Geographers look at the impacts on:
- the migrant and their family,
- the country of origin, where the migrant left from,
- the destination country, where the migrant arrives.
Impacts are sorted into social (people, families, communities and services), economic (money, jobs and businesses) and environmental (land, resources and pollution). Each can be positive (a benefit) or negative (a cost). Migration is not simply good or bad. Different people see the same impact in different ways.
Key terms:
- Remittances: money that migrants send home to their families in their country of origin.
- Brain drain: the loss of skilled and educated workers, such as doctors, nurses and engineers, when they emigrate.
- Exploitation: treating someone unfairly to gain from them, for example paying very low wages for long hours or unsafe work.
- Discrimination: treating people worse because of who they are, such as their race, religion or language.
- Cultural diversity: a mix of people from many different cultures, languages and traditions living in one place.
Impacts on the migrant
❌ Negative
Social: separation from family and friends, loneliness, a new language and discrimination.
Economic: exploitation, such as low pay, long hours and poor conditions. Skilled people may only find work below their skill level.
Environmental: may live in poor-quality or crowded housing.
Some migrants, such as workers in construction and farming, take the risk of unfair treatment because the pay is still higher than at home.
Impacts on the country of origin
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | Remittances bring money into the country and pay for food, schools and homes. Fewer people compete for jobs, so unemployment may fall. Returning migrants may bring savings and start businesses. | Brain drain: the country paid to train doctors, nurses and teachers, then loses them. Businesses may struggle to find skilled workers. |
| Social | Migrants may return with new skills and ideas that help their community. | Families are split up. Mostly young adults leave, so the population may age, and if more men than women leave there is a gender imbalance. Villages may lose their schools and shops. |
| Environmental | Fewer people may mean less pressure on land, water and fuelwood in crowded rural areas. | Farmland may be abandoned when too few people are left to work it, so soil can erode and terraces and irrigation channels may fall into disrepair. |
Remittances matter greatly to some countries. Nepal, the Philippines and Bangladesh all receive large flows of money sent home by workers abroad. Many African countries, such as Ghana and Zimbabwe, have seen trained nurses and doctors leave for higher wages in richer countries.
Common mistakes
Saying only that remittances are good. Money can raise living standards, but it may leave a country short of the skilled workers who earn it. Also, do not say "unemployment falls" with no link: it falls because fewer people are searching for jobs.
Impacts on the destination country
| Positive | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | Migrants fill labour and skills shortages, for example in health, farming and construction. They pay taxes and spend money in local shops. They often form a younger workforce, which helps a country with an ageing population. | Some people worry that migrants compete for jobs or push wages down. Others worry about the cost of public services. |
| Social | Cultural diversity: new food, music, languages, festivals and ideas. | Pressure on services such as schools, hospitals and housing. Tensions between groups, and discrimination, if people do not mix well. |
| Environmental | Migrants may bring skills and ideas for the way land is farmed or managed. | More people need more homes, so cities spread onto green land. More traffic, waste and water use can add to pollution and strain on resources. |
The UK health service employs many nurses and doctors who were born abroad, which shows migrants filling a skills shortage. Migrant farm and construction workers in many countries may be paid very little, so they can be exploited.
Balanced thinking: who gains and who loses?
Strong answers show that an impact is not the same for everyone. Think about who and when.
- Different groups: a business owner may gain from cheaper workers while local workers worry about wages. A family in the origin country gains from remittances, but the hospital loses a nurse.
- Different scales: an impact can be felt locally (a village losing its young people), nationally (a country gaining taxes) or globally (more workers moving to where they are needed).
- Different times: impacts change. A migrant who first faces separation and low pay may later bring savings and skills home, or settle and bring family over.
Use neutral, factual language. Say "some people argue" or "this may" rather than giving your own opinion.
Common mistakes
Writing only about the destination country, or listing impacts with no sorting. Always name which group is affected, whether the impact is social, economic or environmental, and whether it is positive or negative.
Exam-style question
Fig. 1.1 is a table of made-up data about Country P, a country many people emigrate from. Country Q is a country many of them move to.
| Country P | 2010 | 2020 |
|---|---|---|
| Workers from P living abroad (thousands) | 400 | 700 |
| Remittances received (US$ million) | 900 | 1,800 |
| Doctors per 10,000 people | 8 | 6 |
(a) Identify the change in remittances received by Country P between 2010 and 2020. [1 mark]
(b) Define the term brain drain. [2 marks]
(c) Explain one negative impact of emigration on Country P, using Fig. 1.1. [2 marks]
(d) Assess the impacts of international migration on the destination country, Country Q. [6 marks]
Model answer
(a) It doubled, from US$900 million to US$1,800 million (1).
(b) The loss of skilled and educated workers (1) who emigrate to other countries, leaving their home country short of them (1).
(c) Brain drain: the number of doctors per 10,000 people fell from 8 to 6 (1), so fewer people can get healthcare, which harms health in Country P (1).
(d) Migration has positive impacts on Country Q. Economically, migrants fill labour and skills shortages, for example in healthcare and construction, and they pay taxes (1). Socially, cultural diversity brings new food, music and festivals (1). There may be negative impacts too. Schools, hospitals and housing may come under pressure when many people arrive at once (1), and this may cause tensions between groups, and discrimination (1). Environmentally, more homes may be needed, so towns spread onto green land and there is more traffic and waste (1). Overall, the impacts depend on how many migrants arrive and how well services keep pace, and different groups may see the same impact differently (1).
Exam tip
In an "Assess" question, give both sides and then a short judgement. Sort your points as social, economic and environmental so that no part is missed.