Why do people migrate?

People migrate for many different reasons. These reasons can be classified
as economic, social, political or environmental:

economic migration - moving to find work or follow a particular career path

social migration - moving somewhere for a better quality of life or to be

closer to family or friends

political migration - moving to escape political persecution or war

environmental causes of migration include natural disasters such as flooding

Some people choose to migrate, eg someone who moves to another country to

enhance their career opportunities. Some people are forced to migrate, eg someone
who moves due to war or famine.
A refugee is someone who has left their home and does not have a new home to go to.
Often refugees do not carry many possessions with them and do not have a clear idea
of where they may finally settle.
Push and pull factors
Push factors are the reasons why people leave an area. They include:

lack of services

lack of safety

high crime

crop failure

drought

flooding

poverty

war

Pull factors are the reasons why people move to a particular area. They include:

higher employment

more wealth

better services

good climate

safer, less crime

political stability

more fertile land

lower risk from natural hazards

What causes unemployment ?

Unemployment is caused when someone is laid off, fired, or quits and continues to
look for a job. If they don't keep looking, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not
consider them unemployed. Instead, they are out of the labor force.
Four Causes of Frictional Unemployment
One reason for unemployment is voluntary. Some of the unemployed have saved
enough money so they could quit unfulfilling jobs. They have the luxury to search
until they find just the right opportunity.
The second cause is when workers must move for unrelated reasons before they can
start searching for new jobs. The third reason is when new workers enter the
workforce. That includes students who graduate from high school, college or any
higher degree. They have more skills than if they didn't go to school. That's a major
reason for youth unemployment.
The fourth reason is when job seekers re-enter the workforce. They went through
a period in their lives when they stopped looking for work. These include mothers
who are rejoining the workforce after their children are old enough. Other reentrants
might have gotten married and set up the household while their spouse worked. Other
reentrants had to care for elderly relatives before returning to the labor force.
These four situations all cause frictional unemployment. They are an unavoidable part
of the job search process. However, the good news is that it's usually short-term.
Two Causes of Structural Unemployment
The fifth cause is not voluntary. Advanced technology, such as computers or robots,
replaces worker tasks with machines. Most of the workers need retraining to obtain
the skills required to get a new job.
The sixth cause is joboutsourcing. That's when a company moves
its manufacturing or call centers to another country.
Usually, it's because labor costs are cheaper in countries with a lower cost of living.
That occurred in many states after NAFTA was signed in 1994. Many manufacturing

jobs moved to Mexico. It also occurred once workers in China and India gained the
skills needed by American companies. These are the two causes of structural
unemployment. That's when workers' skills, or income requirements, no longer match
the jobs available.
These are the six causes of natural unemployment. They always occur, even in a
healthy economy. The natural unemployment rate is between 4.7% and 5.8%,
according to the Federal Reserve.
What Causes Cyclical Unemployment?
The seventh cause of unemployment is when the supply of jobs is less than the
demand. That's called demand-deficient unemployment. It's usually created by an
economic downturn. That results in large-scale unemployment.
Consumer demand slows enough that businesses lose too much profit. If they don't
expect sales to pick up anytime soon, they must lay off workers.
That's what happens during the recession phase of the business cycle. That
causes cyclical unemployment. A recent example was the financial crisis of 2008.
Unemployment rose to 25% of the population during the Great Depression of 1929.
Do Minimum Wages Cause Demand-Deficit Unemployment
Occasionally demand-deficit unemployment occurs when wages are too high. That's
one of the arguments against higher minimum wages.It says that businesses have a
fixed cost for labor. When they are forced to pay a higher wage per person, they must
let other workers go. In some price-sensitive industries, that's true. But most other
companies can pass the cost onto their customers. (Source: "Structural/Frictional and
Demand-Deficit Unemployment in Local Labor Markets," National Bureau of
Economic Research, July 1988.)
Not All Causes of Joblessness Create Unemployment
If someone gives up looking for work, on the other hand, they are not counted as
unemployed by the Federal government. If someone retires, goes back to school or
leaves the work force to take care of children or other family members, that is not
unemployment. That's because they no longer look for work. Even if they would
prefer a job, they aren't considered unemployed unless they looked in the past month.
People who have searched in the past year, but not the past month, are called
marginally unemployed. For this reason, some people say the
government undercounts the real unemployment rate.

How does unemployment affect the economy?

Some of the well-known effects of unemployment on the economy are:
Unemployment financial costs
The government and the nation suffer. In many countries the government has to pay
the unemployed some benefits. The greater the number of the unemployed or the
longer they are without work the more money the government has to shell out.
Therefore, the nation not only has to deal with the lost income and decreased
production but also with additional cost.
Spending power
The spending power of an unemployed person and his/her family decreases drastically
and they would rather save than spend their money, which in turn affects the economy
adversely.
Reduced spending power of the employed
Increased taxes and the insecurity about their own work may affect the spending
power of the working people as well and they too may start to spend less than before
thus affecting the economy and also the society in a negative manner.
Recession
With the increase rates of unemployment other economy factors are significantly
affected, such as: the income per person, health costs, quality of health-care, standard
of leaving and poverty.
All these affect not just the economy but the entire systems and the society in general.
Here are some aspects of the impact of unemployment on our society:
The effect of unemployment on our society
Unemployment affects not just the person himself but also his/her family and in the
long run the society where he lives.
Unemployment brings with it despair, unhappiness and anguish. It forces people to
live their lives in a way they do not wish to The life expectancy is negatively
affected.
Life expectancy is the ease by which people living in a time/place are able to satisfy
their needs/wants. Here are the main aspects:
1. Mental health: Mental health problems like: Law self-confidence, feeling
unworthy, depression and hopelessness. With the lost income and the
frustration involved in it, the recently unemployed may develop negative
attitudes toward common things in life and may feel that all sense of purpose
is lost. Frequent emotions could be low self-esteem, inadequateness and
feeling dejected and hopeless.
2. Health diseases: The unemployment overall tension can increase dramatically
general health issues of individuals.

3. Tension at home: Quarrels and arguments at home front which may lead to
tension and increased numbers of divorces etc.
4. Political issues: Loss of trust in administration and the government which
may lead to political instability
5. Tension over taxes rise: Unemployment also brings up discontent and
frustration amongst the tax paying citizens. In order to meet the demands of
the unemployment fund the government many a times may have to increase
the taxes thus giving way to restlessness amongst the tax paying citizens.
6. Insecurity amongst employees: The prevailing unemployment and the plight
of the unemployed people and their families may create fear and insecurity
even in the currently employed people.
7. Crime and violence: Increase in the rate of crime.
8. Suicide cases: Increase in the rate of suicide attempts and actual suicides as
well.
9. Social outing: Unemployment may bring a decrease in social outings and
interactions with other people, including friends.
10. Stigma: Unemployment brings with more than just no work. It also brings
with it the disgrace that the person has to bear. Nobody likes to be termed as
unemployed.
11. Standard of leaving: In times of unemployment the competition for jobs and
the negotiation power of the individual decreases and thus also the living
standard of people with the salaries packages and income reduced.
12. Employment gaps: To further complicate the situation the longer the
individual is out of job the more difficult it becomes to find one. Employers
find employment gasps as a negative aspect. No one wants to hire a person
who has been out of work for some time even when theres no fault of the
individual per say.
13. Lose of skills usage: The unemployed is not able to put his/her skills to use.
And in a situation where it goes on for too long the person may have to lose
some of his/her skills.
www.statcan.gc.ca/tables-tableaux/sum-som/l01/cst01/labor07aeng.htm