How Has Migration Become A Public Problem To a Private Solution – Sociology Essay
Migration has become a private solution to a public problem because people are migrating to the western world to fulfill their own needs. Multitudes of people are
flocking to the north to try to get by and make ends meet. They leave behind husbands, wives, and children as they go forth in search of prosperity.
The public problems that countries face due to migration is that not only do people leave that have basic labor skills, people leave that are necessary for the countries survival like doctors, teachers and scientists. They leave third world homes and travel to economies that can pay them higher wages than their own country. “One way to respond to the gap between rich and poor countries is to close it privately by moving to a better paying job.” (Global women,pg:18,Ehrenreich) This only causes more problems for these deprived countries. They are left with not enough medical care and many of their country men needlessly die, and big percentages of people are left uneducated which helps maintain the ever increasing poverty level.
This global migration trend affects both families in the north and the south for different reasons. For families in the south, members that entertain ideas of migration must consider what they leave behind and weigh that to what they will gain. They must step away from their safety net and venture into an unknown world. Most of the people migrating from the south are single mothers filling jobs as maids and nannies. These women leave behind their children, usually with a grandparent, and go to the north to fulfill the same duties they would do at home with their own children to these foreign children. They work hard and usually send at least half of what they earn back home to their families that are in need of an adequate place to live and food in their bellies.
For the north private solutions for families are the extra hand that is needed to take care of their children and what ever else it is that they need. Since more women are working and doing it at all ages, it is harder for them to be there for their families 100 percent of the time. This is where the migrant worker comes in. Given that there are so many people in the work force there is a great demand for outside help. Through this you can see trends arise. One month it is popular to have a Hispanic nanny and the next month it has switched to Chinese. I remember watching the news and they reported on the growing trend of switching a child’s nanny to Chinese help. This was made popular by the upper class wanting their three year old child to learn Mandarin.
The integration of countries continues to be on the rise. People used to migrate to meet up with family members that have already moved, but now people migrate to find jobs. They move to where the money is even if that means sacrificing their roles as mother and fathers. I work in a restaurant and have talked to Hispanic cooks about their situation. All but maybe five have their whole family in Mexico that they get to see maybe once a year. Most of them work two jobs and send all but what they need to have basic survival (place to live and food) back home to their families. They are exhausted but are their family’s only source of real income so they work everyday to help support them.