DEVELOPMENT REPORT - International Migration Reduces Poverty

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - International Migration¹ Reduces Poverty, but at a Price
By Jill Moss²

Broadcast: Monday, October 31, 2005

I'm Steve Emberwith the VOA Special English Development Report.

A new World Bank study says international migration helps reduce poverty in developing nations. At the same time, however, many countries that are small and poor lose highly skilled workers.

Migrants are people who move from place to place in search of work. The study shows that families with migrant workers in other countries have higher earnings³ than those without migrants.

Economists⁵ at the World Bank studied the effects of the money that migrant workers send to their families back home. Economist⁴ Maurice Schiff says the findings show that remittances⁶ reduce poverty and increase spending on education, health and investment.

 
Economist Maurice Schiff Photo: World Bank/Simone D. McCourtie
The findings are based on information from families in three countries: Guatemala, Mexico and the Philippines. Mister Schiff says further studies are being done in other countries.

The World Bank estimates that two hundred million people are migrants living outside their native country. It also estimates that about two hundred twenty-five thousand million dollars will be paid in remittances this year. In many countries, remittances supply more foreign exchange than anything else.

The study also found that migrant workers are more likely to move to a rich nation near their home country. Most migrants in Europe come from Africa and the Middle East. In the United States, migrant workers are generally from Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean.

But international migration also means the problem of "brain drain." Many of the skilled workers needed to bring their countries out of poverty move to wealthier ones instead.

The study examined research from member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The economists found, for example, that eight out of ten Haitians and Jamaicans with college educations live outside their countries. In southern Africa, skilled workers are just four percent of the workforce⁷. Yet they are forty percent of the migrants from the area.

The World Bank study says developing countries should try harder to get skilled workers to stay. It also suggests cooperation between sending and receiving nations.

The study is called "International Migration, Remittances and the Brain Drain."

This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. Our reports are on the Web at unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

3 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。

4 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

5 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 remittances   

n.汇寄( remittance的名词复数 )；汇款，汇款额

参考例句：

• He sends regular remittances to his parents. 他定期汇款给他父母。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Remittances sometimes account for as much as 20% of GDP. 在这些国家中，此类汇款有时会占到GDP的20%之多。 来自互联网

7 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。