Exodus: How Migration Is Changing Our World

Migrants are individuals who leave their home countries to live and work in other nations. Their movement is a defining feature of the modern global economy, reshaping both the countries they leave behind and the societies they enter. Migrants are not a homogenous group; they span economic classes, cultural backgrounds, and motivations for migration, from economic opportunity to escape from conflict or persecution.

Migrants benefit from moving to wealthier countries by earning higher incomes and gaining access to improved healthcare, education, and other services that may not be available in their home countries. For example, many migrants move from rural or impoverished areas, where opportunities are limited, to urban or industrialized regions that offer better-paying jobs and a higher standard of living. These economic benefits can significantly improve their quality of life and provide financial support for their families, often through remittances sent back home.

However, the process of migration comes with significant challenges. Relocating to a new country is expensive, often requiring migrants to deplete their savings or take on debt to cover travel expenses, legal fees, and other costs. Legal barriers, such as strict immigration policies, visas, and work permits, can further complicate the process and limit access to job opportunities. Additionally, migrants often face language barriers, cultural differences, and discrimination, which can make integration into their new communities difficult.

Beyond these practical challenges, migrants frequently experience emotional and psychological strain. Being separated from family and familiar surroundings can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness. Cultural displacement—feeling out of place in a new environment—can add to this stress, especially when migrants struggle to balance preserving their cultural identity with adapting to the norms of their host country.

The indigenous population refers to the native-born residents of a host country. While some benefit from the economic contributions of migrants, others—particularly the indigenous poor—experience challenges, such as increased competition for resources like housing, education, and social services.



A significant issue is the competition for housing. Migrants, who often arrive with larger families and lower incomes, place pressure on limited social housing resources. The increased demand can displace the indigenous poor, reducing their access to housing in areas where migrants tend to settle. This competition also extends to education, where underperforming children of the indigenous poor face challenges sharing resources with immigrant children who may require additional support due to language barriers.

Economically, the effects of migration on the indigenous population vary. While skilled workers often benefit from increased productivity due to complementarities with migrant labor, unskilled indigenous workers face greater challenges. Migration has been shown to suppress wages for the lowest-income workers in some cases, though these effects are often described as modest. Furthermore, the rising cost of housing in high-immigration areas disproportionately affects the indigenous poor, creating regional inequalities. 

For example, migration has increased house prices in Britain by around 10%, with the impact being much larger in areas of high immigration, such as London and the South East. The rise in house prices disproportionately benefits wealthier and older homeowners while creating a “regressive transfer” (116) from lower-income groups, who are more likely to rent or struggle to buy homes. Additionally, the spatial concentration of migration has widened regional disparities in housing, making it harder for poorer individuals in the North to relocate to areas with more job opportunities, such as the South East.

Socially, migration has complex impacts on the indigenous population’s sense of identity and trust. Increased diversity can lead to what Robert Putnam describes as “hunkering down” (139), where trust and cooperation within the indigenous community decline as immigration rises. This phenomenon is linked to studies showing that social capital diminishes in more diverse communities, leading to reduced civic engagement and cooperation even among indigenous people themselves.

The population “left behind” refers to the people who remain in countries experiencing significant emigration. These individuals often face the consequences of losing family members, neighbors, or community members who migrate in search of better opportunities. While migration can provide economic benefits to the population left behind, such as through remittances, it also creates challenges like labor shortages, diminished local development, and increased dependency on external income.

A consequence of migration is the changing demographic composition of regions with high emigration rates. The departure of working-age individuals can lead to aging populations and an imbalance in labor availability. This not only reduces economic productivity, but also increases the challenges of maintaining local infrastructure and services, such as schools and healthcare systems, which rely on a robust working-age population. In extreme cases, entire villages or towns experience population decline, further compounding social and economic isolation.

One positive impact is the phenomenon of “brain gain,” where migration creates opportunities for knowledge and skills to flow back into the home country. Migrants often acquire valuable education, training, or work experience abroad that can be shared when they return or through diaspora networks. When individuals periodically return to their home countries, there is a transfer of expertise, benefiting both the communities left behind and the migrants themselves.