Migration and Disparity

555 Words3 Pages
“Migration reduces disparities in wealth and development.” Discuss this statement. Migration is the movement of people from one place to another to live. It can occur on a variety of scales, domestic migration often involves the movement of people from rural areas to urban areas. International migration is the movement from one country to another. Migration often occurs as people search for a better standard of living and move to places that offer this. Through this process disparities should in theory be reduced but it is not always the case. International migration can play an important role in reducing disparities between countries. For example, there has been large-scale migration from the Philippines to Hong Kong as Filipinos are seeking jobs with more income. The migrants send back remittances home to their families in the Philippines, which is a flow of capital between the countries and reduces the economic disparities between the countries. Remittance payments help families provide a better education for their children, money for medication etc., and generally raise their standard of living. However, international migration does not always reduce disparities though. There is a possibility that if an economy is bad, wages are low or jobs are not available, the most skilled or educated members of the labor force may be tempted to migrate overseas for better working conditions and wages (The brain drain). For example, in India (a developing country), there is a serious brain drain. Although the education system there is very good, many graduates tend to move to developed countries such as the United States as there are better job opportunities. This shows us that although students may have a lot of abilities, because the country itself is not well economically, the brain drain will happen, causing the country to lose many potential outlets for
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