Why do people migrate, and what are the effects on the places they leave and the places they go?
The push and pull factors behind migration, the difference between economic migrants and refugees, and the effects on source and host areas (AO1, AO2).
A focused CCEA GCSE Geography guide to migration. Covers push and pull factors, the difference between economic migrants and refugees, and the positive and negative effects on both the source country and the host country.
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What this dot point is asking
CCEA wants you to explain why people migrate, distinguish an economic migrant from a refugee, and examine the effects of migration on both the place people leave (the source country) and the place they go (the host country). Use the framework of push and pull factors for the causes, and always give balanced effects, positive and negative, for both source and host. The CCEA specification highlights the challenges facing refugees, so know that distinction well.
Push and pull factors
Most migration results from a combination of push and pull: people leave hardship and are drawn towards opportunity.
Economic migrants and refugees
Effects on the source (sending) country
Always give both sides.
- Positive: less pressure on jobs and resources as people leave; remittances (money sent home by migrants) boost the economy; returning migrants bring new skills.
- Negative: loss of young, working-age and skilled people (a brain drain); an ageing population left behind; and families separated.
Effects on the host (receiving) country
- Positive: migrants fill labour shortages and do jobs locals avoid; they pay taxes and boost the economy; they bring skills; and they enrich the culture with new food, music and festivals.
- Negative: short-term pressure on housing, schools and healthcare; possible tension between communities; remittances leave the economy; and the cost of supporting new arrivals.
Worked example: balancing the effects
Common mistakes
Examples in context
Example 1. The brain drain. When doctors, nurses and engineers leave a poorer country for better pay abroad, the sending country loses the very skilled workers it trained and needs, weakening its health service and economy even as the migrants prosper. This is why a balanced answer on the source country stresses the loss of skills, not just the relief of unemployment.
Example 2. Refugees fleeing conflict. When war breaks out, people may be forced to leave everything and flee across borders to survive, becoming refugees who often arrive with nothing and depend on aid and shelter in the host country. CCEA highlights the challenges refugees face, so contrasting their forced, survival-driven movement with the voluntary, opportunity-driven move of an economic migrant shows the examiner you understand the difference that matters most.
Try this
Q1. Give one push factor and one pull factor for migration. [2 marks]
- Cue. Push: unemployment, war, poverty or disaster. Pull: jobs, safety, higher wages or better services.
Q2. What is the difference between an economic migrant and a refugee? [2 marks]
- Cue. An economic migrant chooses to move for work; a refugee is forced to flee danger.
Q3. What is meant by remittances? [1 mark]
- Cue. Money sent home by migrants to their family in the source country.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of CCEA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)4 marksExplain the difference between an economic migrant and a refugee.Show worked answer →
Four marks for a clear contrast with explanation.
An economic migrant chooses to move, usually from a poorer to a richer area, in order to find work, higher wages and a better standard of living. The move is voluntary.
A refugee is forced to flee their home country to escape danger such as war, persecution, natural disaster or famine, and cannot safely return. The move is involuntary.
The key difference is choice: economic migrants move for opportunity, while refugees are forced to move for survival.
Markers reward the contrast between voluntary movement for work and forced movement to escape danger, with a clear example of each cause.
CCEA Unit 2 (style)6 marksExamine the effects of migration on the host (receiving) country.Show worked answer →
Six marks for balanced positive and negative effects on the host country.
Positive effects: migrants fill labour shortages and take jobs locals avoid, they pay taxes and boost the economy, they often bring skills, and they enrich the culture with new food, music and festivals.
Negative effects: pressure on housing, schools and healthcare in the short term, possible tension between communities, money sent home as remittances leaves the economy, and the cost of supporting new arrivals.
A strong answer balances both sides, gives examples, and may conclude that migration is largely beneficial for the host economy if it is well managed.
Markers reward both positive and negative effects, each explained, rather than a one-sided list.
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Sources & how we know this
- CCEA GCSE Geography specification — CCEA (2017)
- CCEA GCSE Geography (2017) Unit 2 past papers and mark schemes — CCEA (2024)