Global Demography And Global Migration

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY AND GLOBAL MIGRATION

GLOBAL DEMOGRAPHY

Demography – a complex discipline that requires the integration of various social scientific data.

DAVI D E. BL O O M AN D DAVI D C ANNING •

In the past 5O years, the world accelerated its transition out of long-term demographic stability.

•

In most countries, this growth led to falling fertility rates. Although fertility has fallen, the population continues to increase because of population momentum.

•

In the meantime, demographic change has created a ‘bulge’ generation.

•

Population growth has been the subject of great debate among economists and demographers.

•

The experiences of East Asia, Ireland, Sub-Saharan Africa all serve evidence of the effect of demographic change on economic growth.

• Both internal migration and international migration complicate this picture. • The overall implication of population growth for policy lie in the imperative for investments in health and education and for sound policies related to labour, trade and retirement. • Understanding future trends is essential for the development of good policy. • Demographic projections can be quite reliable, but huge uncertainties - in the realms of health, changes in human life span, scientific advances, migration, global warming and wars .

ECONOMY AND POPULATION

Rural families view multiple children and large kinship networks as critical investments. Urban families may not have the same kinship network anymore because couple live on theor own, or because they move out of the farmlands. The 1980 United Nations report on urban and rural population growth states that 85 percent of the world rural population in 1975 and or projected to contain 90 percent by the end of the 20th century. International migration today 191 million people live in countries other than their own, and the United Nations projects that 2.2 million will move from the developing world to the First World countries.

THE “PERILS” OF OVERPOPULATION Urbanization and industrialization as indicators of a developing society, but disagree on the role of population growth or decline in modernization. By limiting the population, vital resources could be used for economic progress and not be “diverted” and “wasted” to feeding more mouths. Politics determine “birth control” programs. Developed countries justify their support for population control in developing countries by depicting the latter as conservative societies.

POPULATION GROWTH AND FOOD SECURITY

• Today’s global population has reached 7.4 billion, and it is estimated to increase to 9.5 billion in 2050, then 11.2 billion by 2100.

• Ninety-five percent of this population growth will happen in the developing countries. Developed countries population will remain steady in general, but declining in some of the most advanced countries.

GLOBAL MIGRATION

Migration - crossing the boundary of a political or administrative unit for a certain minimum period.

• Internal Migration - It refers to move from one area (a province, district or municipality to another within one country.

2 TYPES OF MIGRATION

Example. Movements of Uigar ‘national minority’ people from the western provinces of China to cities in the east. • International Migration - It means crossing the frontiers which separate one of the world’s approximately 2 states from another. Example. Between the southern Philippines and Sabah in Malaysia

ONE WAY IN WHICH STATES SEEK TO IMPROVE CONTROL IS BY DIVIDING UP INTERNATIONAL MIGRANTS INTO CATEGORIES.

1. Temporary labour migrants (also known as guestworkers: men and women who migrate for a limited period e.g. Japan and Germany will need workers from demographically young countries like Philippines. 2. Highly skilled and business migrants: people with qualifications as managers executives, professionals, technicians or similar, who move within the internal labour markets of transitional corporations and international organization.

e.g. Working populations in countries like the United States move to more skilled careers, their economies will require migrants to work jobs that their local workers are beginning to reject. 3. Irregular migrants (also known as undocumented or illegal migrants: people who enter a country, usually in search of employment, without the necessary documents and permits.

• 4. Refugees: according to the 1951 Convention relating to the status of refugees, a refugee is a person residing outside his or her country of nationality, who is unable or unwilling to return because of a ‘well-founded fear to persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership on a particular social group, or politician opinion’. • 5. Asylum-seekers: people who move across borders in search of protection, but who may not fulfill the strict criteria laid down by the 1951 Convention. • 6. Family members (also known as family reunion or family reunification migrants: migration to join people who have already entered an immigration country under one of the above categories. e.g. Many countries, including the USA, Canada, Australia and most European Union member states recognize in principle the right to family reunion for legal immigrants. • 7. Return migrants: people who return to their countries of origin after a period in another country.

CAUSE OF MIGRATION

The disparity in levels of income, employment and social well-being between differing areas. Differences in demographic patterns with regard to fertility, mortality, age-structure and labour force growth are also important.

MIGRATION AS A CHALLENGE TO THE NATION-STATE

The Schengen Agreement in Europe and the tightening of border controls in the USA may have reduced irregular movements, but they certainly have not stopped them altogether. Several African and Asian countries have carried out quite draconian measures, such as

• mass expulsions of foreign workers (e.g., Nigeria, Libya, Malaysia • building fences and walls along orders (e.g., South Africa, Israel, Malaysia

• severe punishments for illegal entrants (e.g., corporal punishment in Singapore; imprisonment or a bar on future admission in many countries • sanctions against employers (e.g., South Africa, Japan and other countries

• Ninety percent of the value generated by migrant workers remain in their host countries, they have sent billions back to their home countries.

BENEFITS AND DETRIMENTS OF THE SENDING COUNTRIES

• The Asian Development Bank (ADB) observes than in countries like the Philippines, remittance “do not have a significant influence on other key items of consumption or investment such as spending on education and health care”. Remittance, therefore, may help in lifting “household out of poverty … but not in rebalancing growth, especially in the long run. • Global migration is “siphoning qualified personnel, [and] removing dynamic young workers, this process is called “brain drain”. • The loss of professionals in certain key roles, such as doctor, has been detrimental to the migrants’ home countries.

• The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation lists human trafficking as the largest criminal activity worldwide.

THE PROBLEM OF HUMAN TRAFFICKING

• Human trafficking has been very profitable, earning syndicates, smugglers, and corrupt state officials profits of as high as $150 billion a year in 2014. Governments, the private sector, and civil society groups have worked together to combat human trafficking, yet the results remain uneven.

• Migrants contribute significantly to a host nation’s GDP, but their access to housing, health care, and education is not easy. INTEGRATION

• Democratic states assimilate immigrants and their children by granting them citizenship and the rights that go with it especially public education. • Governments and private businesses have made policy changes to address integration problems, like using multiple languages in state documents.

THANK YOU 