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Impacts of Globalisation » Impacts of Migration

What you'll learn this session

Study time: 30 minutes

Edexcel spec: 8.2 (b)

The different types of migration: voluntary, forced, national, international and rural-urban
How migration affects people in the source area and the host area
The benefits and costs for different groups of people
How to use graphs of rates of population movement over 50 years

Remember, this is part of the optional Globalisation and Migration topic. In Paper 2 Section C you answer only one of the three global issues.

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Types of migration

You have already met the reasons why people move, in the lesson on why people migrate. This lesson is about what happens after they move, and to whom.

Key terms:

Voluntary migration: people choose to move, for example to find a better job.
Forced migration: people have to move because their lives are in danger, for example because of war or a flood.
National migration: moving from one place to another inside the same country.
International migration: moving from one country to another.
Source area: the place that migrants leave.
Host area: the place that migrants move to.

These types overlap. A farmer who moves from the countryside to a city in the same country is a voluntary, national and rural-urban migrant all at once. A family who flee a war into a neighbouring country are forced, international migrants.

Impacts on the source area

💰 Benefits

Migrants often send money home to their families. This helps to pay for food, school and healthcare. There are fewer people to feed and fewer people looking for the same jobs. Migrants who return may bring back new skills.

🚫 Costs

Many migrants are young and skilled. When they leave, there are fewer workers, farms may be left empty and schools or shops may close. Children and older people are left behind, and families are split up.

Impacts on the host area

💼 Benefits

Migrants fill jobs that are hard to fill, in places such as hospitals, farms and building sites. They pay taxes and spend money in local shops. They bring new food, music and ideas, so the area becomes more varied.

🏠 Costs

More people means more demand for homes, schools, hospitals and transport. If there is not enough of these, prices and waiting times rise. Some local people worry about competition for jobs, and new arrivals may find it hard to fit in.

Impacts on different groups of people

The exam asks about different groups of people, so always say who is affected.

Migrants: may earn more and have better services, but may face low pay, poor housing, homesickness or a language barrier.
Families left behind: receive money, but miss their relatives.
Employers in the host area: gain workers.
Local workers in the host area: some feel they must compete for jobs.
Governments: collect tax in the host area, but must pay for more services.

Impacts of each type of migration

🏙 Rural-urban

Cities grow quickly and may struggle to provide enough housing and jobs, while villages lose young people.

🌍 International

Money sent home can matter to a whole country. The host country gains workers, and the source country can lose skilled people.

⚠️ Forced

People often arrive with nothing and in need of food, shelter and safety. The host area, often a poorer neighbouring area, may find it hard to cope.

📍 National

Source and host areas are in the same country, so one government can plan for both ends. Money and workers move inside the country, which can help a poorer region, but it can also leave some regions short of workers.

Skill: using graphs of rates of population movement

The spec asks you to use graphs showing rates of population movement over the past 50 years. A rate is how many people move in a set time, for example per year. Use these steps:

Read the title and the axes. Check the units, such as thousands of people per year.
Describe the overall trend: rising, falling or staying the same.
Quote figures from the graph, with years, for the highest and lowest points.
Look for sudden changes and say when they happen.
Link the pattern to a cause you have learned, such as a war or new jobs.

Worked example

This is invented data for a line graph, written for practice. It shows the number of people moving each year from the country of Norland to the country of Estavia.

1975: 20 thousand. 1985: 25 thousand. 1995: 60 thousand. 2005: 120 thousand. 2015: 80 thousand. 2025: 40 thousand.

Trend: the rate rose slowly from 20 thousand in 1975 to 25 thousand in 1985, then rose quickly to a peak of 120 thousand in 2005. After that it fell to 40 thousand in 2025. Link: the sharp rise between 1985 and 2005 could be because jobs became available in Estavia or because of a conflict in Norland. The fall could mean the push and pull factors have weakened. A graph shows the rate of movement only. It does not tell you why people moved, so use the word "could" unless you are given the cause.

Common mistakes

Writing only about the host area. Always cover the source area as well.
Writing only costs or only benefits. Good answers give both.
Not naming the group. Say whether it is migrants, families, employers, local workers or the government.
Mixing up forced and voluntary migration. Forced means there is no real choice.
Describing a graph without figures. Quote numbers and years.
Re-explaining push and pull factors. That was the last lesson, so focus on the impacts.

Exam-style question

(a) Using the Norland to Estavia figures above, describe the change in the rate of movement between 1985 and 2025. [2 marks]

(b) Explain one benefit and one cost of international migration for the source area. [4 marks]

Model answer

(a) The rate rose from 25 thousand in 1985 to a peak of 120 thousand in 2005 (1), then fell to 40 thousand by 2025 (1).

(b) A benefit is that migrants send money home (1), which families can use for food, school and healthcare (1). A cost is that many migrants are young and skilled (1), so the source area loses workers and its economy may slow down (1).

(c) People may arrive with nothing and need food, shelter and healthcare quickly (1), and the host area may not have enough homes or services to cope (1).

Exam tip

For a graph question, give a figure and a year for every point you make. For an impact question, name the group affected and say whether you mean the source area or the host area.

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