Migration: Push and Pull Factors, Causes and Effects

Push and Pull Factors

• Push Factors: Bad things happening in your home area that force you to leave.
  • War
  • Famine
  • Genocide
  • Discrimination
• Pull Factors: Attractive aspects of a new area that draw you in.
  • Jobs / Economic opportunity
  • Weather (desire to live in a more suitable climate)
  • Family (already migrated family members)

Causes of Migration

• Families want to stay together, so if some family members migrate for jobs, others will likely follow.
• Urbanization: People are migrating to cities due to increased job availability.
  • City Migration: Movement from farms to cities for work.
  • Job Shift: The shift of jobs to cities post-industrialization.
  • Transportation: Improved roads, railroads, and steamships facilitate migration.
• Temporary Migration: Migrating for temporary work opportunities.

Effects of Migration

• Ethnic Enclaves: Areas where migrants bring their culture and set up communities (e.g., Chinatown, Little Havana).
• Coerced and Semi-Coerced Labor: Continued exploitation of migrant workers.
  • Chinese immigrants working on railroads in the US.
  • Migrants taking low-paying, undesirable jobs (e.g., agriculture).
• Indentured Servitude and Comic Labor: Forms of exploitation still occurring.