Description
Migration is both a central, and a cross-cutting, theme in research on social policy in a development context. In recent years international migration1 has become an issue of significant political and research interest. The growth and scale of international migration means that in the future the migration-social policy nexus will be important to how both migration and social policy are managed nationally and internationally. International migration has resulted in opportunities for social and economic development, for governments, communities and migrants in developing countries. Migration has economic, social, and cultural implications for the sending and host societies, remittances the migrants send home are perhaps the most tangible and least controversial link between migration and development. Since many developing countries are also large recipients of international migrants, they face challenges of integration of immigrants, job competition between migrant and native workers, and fiscal costs associated with provision of social services to the migrants.
This book discusses the migration-social policy nexus by showing that there are important connections between migration and transformations in social policy. It provides a discussion of the development implications, economic and social impacts, of migration for origin countries. This book also provides insights into how migration affects national and transnational social welfare systems, transnational networks and service provisioning in developed countries, and how global social policy connects with socially focused migration policy. It considers how such linkages vary in the context of different migration patterns. It discusses the available evidence on the impact of migration on destination countries, with emerging migration issues such as environment and climate change, fertility and demographic patterns, democratic processes, and national security, and some policy recommendations for enhancing the impact of migration on economic and social development.
