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YOUTH MIGRATION INLATIN AMERICAAND THE CARIBBEAN
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Study done by: Dr. Ana Isabel Roldán Rico, Professor and Researcher
Autonomous University ofQuerétaro, México
Youth migration is becoming a priority issue in academic studies, the agendas of multilateral organizations, and government programs, because of the phenomenon’s great surge in recent years. Today youth view migration as the only option for their present and future in the face of an economic crisis that threatens high levels of unemployment.
Both structural and personal reasons have prompted the huge contingent of youth that have decided to change their way of life. The document explores various aspects of youth migration and the factors that influence the decision to migrate.
The study includes figures that show that the large-scale emigration of Latin American and Caribbean people is not homogeneous, but consists of a diverse group whose social and economic differences vary according to national and ethnic origin, labor and social insertion, territorial distribution, documentation, and levels of organization. These aspects are conditioned by the migrants’ ties with their families, the social networks they establish with other groups of migrants, and the government support they receive.
Latin American youth: Although supposedly more adaptable to new technologies and more flexible, youth have been hard hit by the increase in poverty. Between 1990 and 2002, the number of poor youth increased by 7.6 million to 58 million. The number of indigent youth rose by 800,000 to 21.2 million. In 2002, 41% of all youth were poor, and 15% of all youth were indigent. Figures for young women were 2.7% higher than for men in poverty, and 1.3% higher for indigence.
For millions of youth, migration in search of better opportunities is the only option for improving their living standard.
Youth migration in Latin America and the Caribbean
Population mobility is not an automatic reaction to the exclusion and social vulnerability typical of most Latin American countries. At each point in history, economic and political forces of the more developed economies have found various ways of attracting cheap and vulnerable labor to ensure the competitiveness of various productive sectors. The countries’ differing economic development levels and population structures, the demand of the developed countries with a strongly aging demographic profile, and the political and social circumstances that attack social security, all help to shape the migratory currents and accelerate them at certain times.
Migration is the result of the interaction of structural factors and personal circumstances.
1.Labor market and inequality
In the current globalization, the accelerated and ceaseless flow of capital, technology, goods, and communications contrasts with the slow growth and job generation in economies whose principal asset is their labor force.
According to data from the Ibero-American Youth Organization (OIJ), unemployment among youth is five times higher than among adults. Youth receive lower pay for work at the same level of productivity. The disadvantage is greater when contrasted with the residents of the United States, who earn 25% to 30% more than Latin Americans. This is the primary reason for migration to that country.
Some authors say that by 2005 there were already 11.2 million Mexicans living in the United States, and 27% of the resident population that was born in Latin America and the Caribbean is between 15 and 29 years of age. Within this segment there are various forms of social, labor, and cultural insertion.
Sassen (1988) says that the migrant profile tends to be polarized with two extremes: skilled migrants, who occupy high management positions or academic and research posts, and migrants who work as unskilled laborers. Youth migrants who are poor, unsuited to compete in a knowledge society, are the most vulnerable, especially if their migration status is illegal. Two-thirds of the adolescent migrants are engaged in industry and services; those between the ages of 25 and 34 are divided almost equally between the sectors, while agriculture employs most of the migrants over the age of 35 (CONAPO, 2000).
Although adolescent and youth migrants are better-educated and more willing to venture into nontraditional entities and productive sectors, they are the ones who earn the lowest pay, which results in a significant wage gap. If a migrant is young, poor, with less education, and without a support network or family connections, failure is more likely.
2.Education, human development, and insertion
Millions of youth in the region are outside the labor market and outside the education system as well. It is estimated that this is the case for 26% of youth aged 15-29, so one of every four youth is socially excluded. In poor households, between 30% and 40% of the youth are neither working nor studying (CEPAL-CELADE 2000).
The push factors in the place of origin, which are the lack of equal labor and education opportunities, are seen by the youth as impossible barriers to their life plans. This notion is fostered by the utopian view they have of the external community and the pull factors.
Youth migration to the developed countries can thus be explained by the penetration of prevailing cultural patterns and the youth’s perception of them, and of course by their assessment of the possibilities of insertion, social mobility, or satisfaction of their educational needs at the destination. In other words, the expectation of emigrating is conditioned by: the intensity of movement of those who leave, the reports of successes and failures; possibilities of migration abroad or to distant locations, and of course their objective, whether work or study.
Education is critical. A good education opens the door to the information revolution, “intelligent” jobs, and participation in knowledge-based networks. Contrariwise, if one lacks adequate education this means exclusion from the knowledge society and all that it implies.
Exclusion and discrimination go beyond the economic dimension. They mean that one receives no income or very sporadic income, which poses serious problems for survival. One cannot start to work, so she or he is not exposed to the experience of apprenticeship and productive growth. At the same time, the network of possible relationships is very small because a job is needed to expand it.
Human development
From the human development perspective, voluntary migratory movements reflect the degree of freedom that individuals enjoy. Those who choose to migrate are exercising their freedom of choice, although sometimes they do so based on limited and often unequal options. Migratory movements change the geography of human development. Geographical redistribution of persons is accompanied by an alteration in the set of opportunities available to the individuals. Migration transforms the social and economic potential of both sending and receiving zones.
3.Transnational communities and social capital
Transnational communities have a fundamental role in international migration. Family, friends, and other contacts in the destination country often start and facilitate the process of relocation, thus nurturing and sustaining the migration (Massey et al, 1993). Family members abroad often provide the financial resources for migration.
Youth migration has important consequences on the population structure in the origin and destination areas. Youth who migrate are not the only active components; those who do not migrate are also significant, because they are the ones who can and should facilitate migration in return for the care of the individuals and the continuity of productive activities in their place.
At this time of great population movement and intense connectivity between different cultures,transnational communities are emerging in which changes retain characteristics of both cultures (and some additional ones), and which in turn are altering the original cultures. The social capital reflects the degree to which the individuals are interdependent. For young migrants, labor and social insertion can be less disruptive in sites where there is already a kindred community that supports them from the outset.
Transnationalism has various aspects, such as strong family ties, support networks and organizations (social capital); individual and collective remittances for community benefits (economic capital); and associations for the defense of workers’ rights (political capital), which are but a sample of the high degree of complexity and reinforcement that these communities already have and the capital that supports them.
4.Financial independence and entrepreneurship
Youth entrepreneurship offers a real opportunity to youth to be involved in the productive processes of society and to reach greater personal levels of independence. The main challenge facing policies to encourage youth entrepreneurship is to match the young people’s need for self employment and a company with access to decent work.
It is essential to promote a climate favorable to entrepreneurial development through measures that encourage consolidation, maintenance, and improvement of competitiveness, and at the same time to eliminate legislative and financial obstacles to the establishment of corporations in general and those of youth in particular. It is important to stimulate a cultural and social climate propitious for productive enterprise.
As for the direct relationship that migrants’ organizations establish with communities of origin, it is interesting to analyze how these have become active agents for public works and productive projects, in cooperation with state and municipal authorities; and how they have applied a new form of investment of savings of returned migrants in the creation of businesses or companies.
Preliminary conclusions
It is essential to promote a climate favorable to entrepreneurial development through measures that encourage consolidation, maintenance, and improvement of competitiveness and, at the same time, to eliminate legislative and financial obstacles to the establishment of corporations in general and those of youth in particular. It is important to stimulate a cultural and social climate propitious for productive enterprise. The formal education system in each country should disseminate the principles of entrepreneurship culture. Although corporate training and education efforts of the private and nongovernmental sectors are important, and they are a step in the right direction, they cannot be carried out on the required scale without the support of the public sector (ILO, 2007).