Why people migrate: push and pull factors and their effects

Grade 9 Social Studies Worksheet - Building Confidence

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Card A. International migrants, 2000 to 2020 (UN DESA estimates of people living outside their country of origin): 173 million (2000), 221 million (2010) and 281 million (2020). In 2020 that was about 3.6% of the world's people. Note: a push factor drives people away from a place, such as few jobs or drought. A pull factor draws people to a place, such as jobs or schools. Internal migration is moving within one country.

2. 1.

   Ari compares the two decades on Card A: 2000 to 2010 and 2010 to 2020. Which statement is right?

   • The figures count moves made in each decade, so 281 million people moved between 2010 and 2020
   • The second decade also rose faster in percent, because a gain of 60 million is bigger than a gain of 48 million
   • Both decades added about the same number, roughly 54 million each, so the numbers grew in equal steps
   • The second decade added more migrants (60 million against 48 million), yet both rose about 27%
3. 2.

   Luz says: "281 million people moved abroad in 2020." What does Card A actually count?

   • People who moved abroad for jobs, since jobs are the pull factor Card A names first in its note
   • People living outside their country of origin in 2020, whenever they moved
   • People who moved to another country during the year 2020, counted once at the time of the move
   • People who plan to return to their home country after a short stay, as a count of temporary moves
4. 3.

   Tala reads Card A's share for 2020: about 3.6% of the world's people. Which sentence reads it correctly?

   • About 1 in 28 people lived outside their country of origin in 2020, and most did not
   • Migration is rare, so it matters little to any country and the figure can be ignored by planners
   • About 3.6% of people moved abroad during 2020, so each year adds a similar share of the world
   • About 1 in 3 people lived outside their country of origin in 2020, since 3.6% means 36 in 100

5. Use this

   Card B (made up for practice). Two towns in one country. Rena: its main factory has closed, 3 in 10 workers have no job, and a drought has dried up the wells. Soto: a new port has opened, wages are 40% higher than in Rena, and the college is taking more students. The road from Rena to Soto takes 2 days and a ticket costs a month's wages in Rena. Note: an intervening obstacle is a cost or barrier that makes a move harder.

6. 4.

   Pia sorts Card B's facts into push, pull and obstacle. Which sorting is right?

   • Push: the closed factory and the drought. Pull: Soto's wages and port. Obstacle: the ticket cost
   • Push: the closed factory and the drought. Pull: the ticket cost, because it must be paid. Obstacle: the port
   • Push: Soto's higher wages and port. Pull: the closed factory and the drought. Obstacle: the ticket cost
   • Push: the closed factory. Pull: the drought, because it makes Soto look better. Obstacle: the wages in Soto
7. 5.

   Milo compares a move from Rena to Soto with Card A's 281 million. Does the move belong in that count?

   • Yes, because any family that moves 2 days by road has left its home and so counts as a migrant abroad
   • No: both towns are in one country, so the move is internal migration, not counted by Card A
   • No, because Card A cannot count migrants, as the estimates are too rough to compare with a town
   • Yes, because Card A counts the moves made during the year, and the move to Soto is one of them
8. 6.

   Zee asks how long a Rena worker needs to earn back the ticket's cost in Soto, doing the same job at 40% higher pay. About how long?

   • About 2.5 months: the extra pay is 40% of a month's wage per month, against a one-month ticket
   • About 40 months, because the wage is 40% higher and each month adds 1% of the ticket price
   • About 4 months, because 40% of a month's wage is worth about a quarter of the ticket
   • About 1 month, because the ticket costs a month's wages and Soto pays higher wages
9. 7.

   Kira asks which change in Rena would weaken the main economic push the most. Which fits?

   • A cheaper ticket, which would remove the push from the drought because people could leave more easily
   • Higher wages in Soto, which would weaken the push from Rena by making Soto look more attractive
   • New jobs in Rena, which would remove the main economic push, the 3 in 10 workers without work
   • More students at Soto's college, which would reduce the push because fewer young people stay in Rena

10. Use this

    Card A. International migrants, 2000 to 2020 (UN DESA estimates of people living outside their country of origin): 173 million (2000), 221 million (2010) and 281 million (2020). In 2020 that was about 3.6% of the world's people. Note: a push factor drives people away from a place, such as few jobs or drought. A pull factor draws people to a place, such as jobs or schools. Internal migration is moving within one country. Card B (made up for practice). Two towns in one country. Rena: its main factory has closed, 3 in 10 workers have no job, and a drought has dried up the wells. Soto: a new port has opened, wages are 40% higher than in Rena, and the college is taking more students. The road from Rena to Soto takes 2 days and a ticket costs a month's wages in Rena. Note: an intervening obstacle is a cost or barrier that makes a move harder.

11. 8.

    Ren compares Card A's headline (281 million, 3.6%) with Card B. Which statement fits both cards?

    • Card A's count leaves out moves within a country, so a move like Rena to Soto adds nothing to it
    • Card A's count rises each time a family moves anywhere, so Rena to Soto raises it by the family's size
    • Card A shows that moves within a country are rare, since it counts so few moves compared with the world
    • Card A's count includes moves within a country, so a move like Rena to Soto adds one to the total

12. Use this

    Card A. International migrants, 2000 to 2020 (UN DESA estimates of people living outside their country of origin): 173 million (2000), 221 million (2010) and 281 million (2020). In 2020 that was about 3.6% of the world's people. Note: a push factor drives people away from a place, such as few jobs or drought. A pull factor draws people to a place, such as jobs or schools. Internal migration is moving within one country.

13. 9.

    Esme says: "If the true 2020 figure were 270 or 290 million instead of 281 million, the share would change a lot." What is right?

    • The share would be about 35% to 37%, since a change of 10 million is a change of 10 percentage points
    • The share would stay close to 3.6%: about 3.5% at 270 million and 3.7% at 290 million
    • The share could be anywhere from 1% to 6%, because the estimate is uncertain and could be far off
    • The share would not change, because 3.6% is fixed by the world's people whatever the estimate

14. Use this

    Card B (made up for practice). Two towns in one country. Rena: its main factory has closed, 3 in 10 workers have no job, and a drought has dried up the wells. Soto: a new port has opened, wages are 40% higher than in Rena, and the college is taking more students. The road from Rena to Soto takes 2 days and a ticket costs a month's wages in Rena. Note: an intervening obstacle is a cost or barrier that makes a move harder.

15. 10.

    Noah lists the intervening obstacle between Rena and Soto on Card B. Which is it?

    • Soto's wages, 40% higher than Rena's, because they are a feature of the destination that a family must weigh
    • The factory closing, because it blocks workers from earning and so stands between them and Soto
    • The cost of a ticket, a month's wages in Rena, and the 2 days on the road
    • The drought in Rena, because it makes staying harder and so gets in the way of a normal family life