To what extent is migration an answer to inequalities?

TO WHAT EXTENT IS MIGRATION AN ANSWER TO INEQUALITIES

Inequality is a problem many are confronted to today. Thousands of workers move from rural to urban areas or even across borders into another country as a means to decrease the gap between themselves and the richer people. Migration is to a certain extent a consequence of regional inequalities, as wealth disparity has become one of the world’s most overwhelming problems. However, some cases have shown migration can actually increase inequalities, sometimes involuntarily. Additionally, other factors can cause immigration. Nevertheless inequality and poverty both have to be clearly defined in order to shed light on the correlation between migration and inequality (on any scale)

Inequality is in the wider sense of the term the condition of being unequal. When studying human inequality, or sociology, economic disparity and income inequality is often much more relevant. Gender inequalities can also be a case study of its own. Wealth, especially when it comes to migration, comes hand in hand with inequality. Wealth is prosperity, and defines how economically influential an individual is. Some people are wealthy enough to corrupt governments, buy banks, make sizeable donations… some are wealthy enough to support their family, but an overwhelming amount of people can’t even afford to do so; 1 out of 7 people live on under 1USD a day. Whether it is from Mexico to the United States or from Northern Africa to Europe, migration is viewed as many to be a way to remedy wealth inequality, which is why it is vital to have a good understanding of both terms.

Wealth is something humankind has had trouble balancing; 20% of humans own over 80% of the world’s wealth. To go even further, those 20% come from a handful of countries, namely the United States, Japan, Eastern China and European powers. The United States have a long history of welcoming immigrants due to inequalities. In the late 19th century to early 20th, Italian immigration to the US was at its peak because of the land ownership inequalities in Sicily, where 0.01% of farmers owned 50% of the land. As a result, farmers became poorer and poorer and wealth inequalities were remarkable. This led to the departure of over 5 million immigrants to the United States. Starting out in Brooklyn ghettos, Italian immigrants slowly integrated themselves in American cultures and now have a very rich heritage in the New World. The Irish potato famine also paved the way for times of inequality; Irish locals were starving, while obviously, the rich had the money necessary to buy other foods. The famine provoked an exodus of a million Irishmen to America. In hope for a new life, Irish immigrants settled in the United States and are now regarded as one the most successful cultures in America.

While some culture are successful in the arrival of their host country, some are a lot less. In fact, some migratory fluxes have proven to not benefit anyone: Middle Eastern immigrating towards the United States have had a particularly difficult time to adapt to the new culture; according to the Office of Refugee Resettlement, 68.3% of migrants accepted between 2008 and 2013 are living off of welfare. This is not only counter-productive for the United States, as the burden is put on taxpayers shoulder but income inequalities are more significant: consequently, the (middle eastern

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