Global Demographic Shifts: Migration, Aging, and Development

The Demographic Imbalance

The demographic imbalance:

* The rapid growth of developing countries hinders development due to strong investments required for food, education, and health. As a result, these countries frequently experience hunger, malnutrition, illiteracy, and a low average standard of living. Most poor countries have adopted birth control policies.

* The aging of developed countries entails high costs in pensions, health, and social support. Many countries have adopted measures to encourage births.

The population increase, along with the excessive consumption of resources, causes a severe strain on the environment.

- Migration: population movements from the place of origin to another destination, redistributing the population in the territory.

- Emigration: the departure of a local population from its origin, and immigration is the arrival of a population to a destination.

- Net migration is the balance between immigration and emigration in one place. Negative: Emigration / Positive: Immigration.

Causes of migration

* The negative aspects of life in the place of origin: these can be natural causes (earthquakes, volcanic eruptions), political (war, persecution), or economic conditions (overcrowding, lack of work).

* The attraction of destinations: these can be natural (climatic conditions), political (social harmony), or economic (greater supply of jobs).

Types of migration

Interior: Rural exodus

Internal migrations are population movements taking place within a state. Rural depopulation is the movement from the countryside to the city that leads to a change of residence of long duration or permanently.

* Developed countries: the rural exodus reached its peak in the nineteenth century and the 1960s. It was motivated by the excess labor force in the field.

* Under-developed countries: the rural exodus accelerated in the mid-twentieth century, and today is the most important migration. This is attributed to the high population growth and poor living conditions in the field.

External Migration

External Migration - the most important historical protagonists were in Europe.

* The transoceanic migrations were linked to the conquest and colonization of virgin or unexplored spaces. In the sixteenth century, they were directed to colonize the Americas, and affected a small number of Europeans. In the nineteenth century, they went to Australia and North America. They had a massive character, since it affected more than 60 million people.

* Migration to Western Europe began after World War II (1945). The more developed countries of Western Europe needed a labor force to rebuild. They received immigrants from their former colonies, and some developed countries, such as Portugal, Italy, Greece, and Spain. This ended in 1975.

- Current external migration developed in 1990. The protagonists are people in underdeveloped countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America who go to developed countries, such as North America, Europe, Japan, and Oceania, to accomplish the toughest and poorly paid jobs.

Consequences of external migration

* Issuing country of immigrants: the consequences are demographic: loss of young people, aging, and a decrease in the birth rate. Economic: unemployment and a diminished economy. Social: a decline in social unrest and the modernization of society.

* Countries receiving migrants: demographic: population increases, and the birth rate rejuvenates. Economic: providing labor to accomplish hard and poorly paid work. Policies: the conversion into multicultural societies.