Causes of Migration

AP Human Geography

Objective

• By the end of this lesson, students will be able to analyze and understand the causes of migration, both voluntary and forced.

Why move??

• People move for a number of reasons• Better homes, jobs, climate, etc. • Migration involves a decision, but it can

sometimes be a “forced” decision rather than a voluntary one.

Rural to Urban

Urban to Rural

In Search of Work

Better Climate

Voluntary Forced

War

Persecution

Disasters

Desires Survival

Hazard-ous events

Types of Migration

Voluntary Migration

• Rural To Urban: People are attracted to “glamorous” employment opportunities in cities

• Urban to Rural: Weary of city life and the high cost of living, people seek refuge in the tranquility of the countryside

• International Migration: people are motivated for many reasons to travel overseas and begin new lives.

Forced Migration

• Natural disasters like hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and the spread of disease have all encouraged people to move

• War and persecution are extreme examples of forced migration

• Civil War has led people to move to nearby countries

Lees Model of Migration

• 1966 (Model to explain forces in migration)– It introduced the idea of intervening obstacles that need

to be overcome before migration can take place– Source and destination are seen as possessing a range of

attributes: each “would-be migrant” perceives these attributes differently depending on age, race, gender, marital status, etc.

Lee’s Model

Intervening Obstacles

• Factors, real or perceived, that might prevent migration. – Passport documents– Learning to drive– Learning a new language– Schools for children

Intervening Opportunity

• The presence of a nearer opportunity that greatly diminishes the attractiveness of sites farther away.

Common Examples of Push and Pull

• Push– Disagreeable Climate– Lack of Employment

Opportunity– High Cost of Living – Pollution– Overcrowding

• Pull – Agreeable Climate– Employment

Opportunities – Clean Air– Family Connections and

Friends

Push and Pull is COMPLEX because people all have different perceptions of places.

What attracts some people to a place also serves to repel others.

Consider Push/Pull Factors for the next 2 photographs

Test Your Knowledge!

• In the next few slides, there will be a migration story.

• Figure out if the example is demonstrating a: push factor, pull factor, intervening obstacle or intervening opportunity.

• Write your answers down in your notebook, and we will review at the end.

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Pull Factor Push Factor

A new mayor is elected in Chicago. His new city plans include shutting down many schools and cutting school budgets. Now, Mr. Wilson, a resident of Chicago, has a son who is now in an overcrowded classroom of 40 students and there’s less of a budget to improve the school and hire high quality teachers. Him and his wife decide out to the suburbs.

Liliana decided she wanted to study abroad in Australia. When she filled out her paperwork to get her passport documents, she realized that she may not get them in time to leave. She paid extra to have them shipped faster, but they still didn’t get there in time. She ended up having to put off studying abroad until next semester.

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Pull Factor Push Factor

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Push Factor

Forced Migration Voluntary Migration Pull Factor

Jose, a graduate of Harvard, works in a small advertising firm in a suburb of Chicago. He has made such a name for himself, that the Google office out of Los Angeles offers him a job with twice the pay and more vacation time. Also, you can’t complain about the weather in LA.

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Pull Factor Push Factor

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Push Factor

Pull Factor Push Factor Pull Factor

Mary, from Chicago, had plans to attend Arizona State University in the fall. She registered for classes, visited the campus, and even had a roommate picked out. A few weeks before school started, she found out that she got accepted to the University of Illinois, just 2 hours away. At the last minute, she decided to go to Illinois instead of Arizona.

Intervening Obstacle Intervening Opportunity

Pull Factor Push Factor

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration1. The majority

of migrants move short distances. They may move in steps, but they move short distances.

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

2. Those who move far away, move to cities

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

3. Urban residents are less migratory

4. Most migration is rural to urban.

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

5. Families are less migratory than young adults

Ravenstein’s Laws of Migration

6. Most international migrants are young males, while most internal migration are female.

Formal Sector Jobs

• Most fortunate migrants will find jobs here. – A regular wage that gives some access to the

other advantages of urban life.

– Let’s think of some examples

Informal Sector Jobs

• Because the demand for jobs generally is greater than supply, many migrants can do no better than this. – These jobs generally require very little skill or

education– There is no set wage

• Let’s think of examples