Push Factors
This environmental disaster can destroy homes and force residents to relocate.
What is a natural disaster?
Migrants are attracted to countries that offer higher pay and steady work.
What are job opportunities (or higher wages)?
Not having enough money for travel or housing prevents migration.
What is lack of funds (or poverty)?
A migrant stops in a closer country after unexpectedly finding work there.
What is an intervening opportunity?
Drought causes farmers to leave their country.
What is a push factor?
People often migrate when they cannot find employment in their home country.
What is unemployment?
Families move to access better schools and universities.
What is educational opportunity?
Different languages in the destination country make communication difficult.
What is a language barrier?
A relative living abroad offers housing, changing the migrant’s destination.
What is family sponsorship?
High wages in another country attract workers.
What is a pull factor?
Violence or armed conflict in a country pushes citizens to seek safety elsewhere.
What is war (or conflict)?
Freedom to practice religion openly attracts migrants to some countries.
What is religious freedom?
Laws that limit who can enter a country legally.
What are immigration laws?
Winning permission to live in a country through a visa lottery.
What is a visa lottery opportunity?
Strict border security prevents migrants from entering.
What is an intervening obstacle?
When a government threatens or punishes people for their beliefs, this push factor occurs.
What is political persecution?
Low crime and peaceful living conditions make this a strong pull factor.
What is safety (or political stability)?
A government limit on the number of migrants allowed per year.
What is an immigration quota?
A refugee resettlement program relocates migrants before they reach their original goal.
What is refugee resettlement?
A migrant heading to the U.S. settles in Mexico after finding work there.
What is an intervening opportunity?
A severe shortage of food that causes starvation and forces people to leave.
What is famine?
Access to hospitals, doctors, and medicine attracts migrants seeking a healthier life.
What is better healthcare?
The possibility of being forced to return to one’s home country after entering illegally.
What is deportation risk?
Receiving a scholarship in a different country changes a student’s migration plan.
What is an educational opportunity (intervening opportunity)?
War pushes a family out, but job opportunities attract them to a new country.
What are push and pull factors working together?