Consequences of Migration

Consequences of Migration

Migration affects both the areas of origin of migration and the areas of destination. The following are the major consequences of migration.

a. Demographic consequences: It changes age and sex composition of population. Migration of females after their marriage leads to decline in sex ratio in the source regions and increase the sex ratio in the regions of destinations. The migration of male workers in search of jobs decreases the independent population of the source regions which increases the dependency ratio.

b. Social consequences: The migration of people from different regions towards an urban area leads to the formation of plural society. It helps the people to come out of narrow mindedness and people become generous.

c. Economic consequences: The migration of more people from over populated to under populated regions results the imbalance of the resource-population ratio. In some cases, the regions of over and under population may become the regions of optimum population. Migration may influence the occupational structure of the population of an area. Through this it will certainly affect the economy of the regions also. Brain drain is a consequence of migration. Brain drain refers to the migration in which skilled people from economically backward countries move to developed countries in search of better opportunities. Eventually, this leads to backwardness in source regions. This is called as “backwash effect”.

d. Environmental consequences: Large scale movement of people from rural to urban areas causes overcrowding in cities and puts heavy pressure on resources. It leads to rapid growth of cities. The over population in urban areas leads to the pollution of air, water and soil. Scarcity of drinking water, lack of space for housing, traffic congestions and poor drainage are the common environmental problems prevail in urban areas. The lack of space for housing and the rising of land cost lead to the formation of slums.