Global migration, labour and tourism
Explain migration measures and causes, assess positive and negative consequences for different groups, and evaluate who benefits from global migration.
Exam scope and assessment notes
Original StudyForA teaching mapped to Cambridge syllabus section 8.2. It is independent study support, not Cambridge material or an awarded grade. Extended written responses are self-checked and have not received human examiner or subject-teacher marking. Use evidence and examples appropriate to learners’ age, cultural context and school policy. Avoid stereotypes and do not ask learners to disclose personal experiences. Sociology presents theories for analysis rather than endorsing political positions.
Before you begin
Work on paper. Try each question before revealing help, and explain why your method works.
Quick readiness check
If 120 people arrive and 115 leave during a period, what is net migration?
What you will learn
- Define immigration, emigration and net migration and explain push and pull factors, global labour patterns and tourism.
- Analyse cultural, economic and resource-related consequences and negative perceptions of migration.
- Evaluate who benefits from migration across migrants, origin and destination communities and employers.
Migration has distinct measures and interacting causes
Immigration is movement into a country or place; emigration is movement out. Net migration is the difference between immigration and emigration over a specified period and population. A net figure can hide high movement in both directions or differences among migrants.
Push factors make leaving more likely, while pull factors attract people to a destination; the same condition can be experienced differently. Global labour patterns shape movement for work, and tourism involves temporary travel that can affect local economies and relationships. Decisions also depend on networks, policy, resources and personal circumstances.
Consequences and benefits are distributed unevenly
Migration can contribute to cultural diversity, skills, remittances and economic activity. It can also raise concerns about access to housing or services where resources are scarce, and public debate may include negative perceptions that require investigation rather than repetition as fact.
Who benefits depends on migrants' rights and conditions, employers' needs, origin-country effects and destination institutions. Migrants are not one homogeneous group: legal status, skill, gender, resources and reason for movement affect experience. Compare evidence and avoid treating migration as either wholly beneficial or wholly harmful.
Sources for this lesson
Pause and explain
A destination gains workers but faces pressure on some local services. What is the best conclusion?
Worked example
A country records similar numbers of people arriving and leaving during a year. Explain what its net migration figure can and cannot show.
Show the worked solution
- Net migration is arrivals minus departures for the defined place and period.
- Similar totals may produce a small net figure even when gross movement is high.
- The figure does not reveal migrants' reasons, conditions, origins or distributional effects.
Answer A small net figure shows that arrivals and departures were similar under the recorded definitions. It does not show that little migration occurred: both flows may be large. Further evidence is needed on routes, reasons, groups and consequences.
Try a topic test
Choose Easy, Normal or Difficult. Save your answers and open worked review after finishing.
Test this topic →From guided practice to a new situation
Write your answer and reasoning first. Use a hint only if you are stuck. The model solution is for self-checking; your written work is not automatically marked.
A region receives 800 migrants and 760 people emigrate in one year. Calculate net migration and explain one limit of the result.
Give me a hint
Subtract emigration from immigration, then distinguish the net balance from total movement.
Compare my reasoning
- Use immigration minus emigration: 800 − 760.
- Net migration is +40 for the defined region and year.
- The net figure hides the 1,560 movements and says nothing about their reasons or experiences.
Net migration is +40 people. The small balance does not mean only 40 people moved; 800 arrived and 760 left. The measure also does not describe who moved or what effects followed.
Look for these in your work
- Calculates the balance correctly
- Uses the sign and period clearly
- Explains the difference between net and gross movement
Explain two ways tourism and global labour patterns can influence migration, while distinguishing the types of movement.
Give me a hint
Consider employment opportunities and temporary travel, and define the movement being described.
Compare my reasoning
- Tourism can create seasonal or service-sector jobs that attract some workers.
- Workers may move temporarily or permanently; define whether the account concerns immigration or emigration.
- Consider working conditions, policy and effects on origin and destination communities.
Tourism can generate work that attracts migrants, while global labour demand may draw workers into particular sectors. Some movement is temporary and some is longer term, so the terms and period matter. Effects depend on conditions and who receives the income or bears local costs.
Look for these in your work
- Connects tourism and labour demand to movement
- Distinguishes duration or direction
- Considers distribution of effects
Assess the view that migration benefits destination countries more than migrants or origin communities.
Give me a hint
Compare employer, public, migrant and origin-community outcomes and distinguish short-term from long-term effects.
Compare my reasoning
- Consider labour, skills and cultural contributions alongside possible resource pressures in destinations.
- Assess migrants' pay, rights, safety and family effects, and consider remittances or skills loss in origin communities.
- Reach a contextual judgement using evidence about migrant categories and policy.
Destination employers or institutions may benefit from labour and skills, but migrants' outcomes depend on rights, pay and safety. Origin communities may receive remittances or lose workers and family members. The balance varies by migration route and policy; a general ranking of who benefits needs comparative evidence about different groups and time periods.
Look for these in your work
- Considers more than one stakeholder
- Explains uneven benefits and costs
- Uses a qualified comparison
Common mistakes
- Confusing immigration, emigration and net migration
- Treating tourism and permanent migration as the same movement
- Assuming all migrants or all destination residents receive the same benefits and costs
What can you explain now?
Can net migration be close to zero while many people move?
Compare with the explanation
Yes. Similar numbers may arrive and leave even when both flows are large.
Net migration is a balance, not a count of all movement or a description of individual experiences.
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Make it stick
Define immigration, emigration and net migration; distinguish push and pull factors; name two possible benefits and two possible costs for different groups.
If you needed the solution, close it and solve the problem again from a blank page. A correct answer is stronger when you can explain the reason for each step.