Globalisation and migration — practice questions

Positive impacts: Fills labour shortages; young workers support ageing populations; skills and entrepreneurship; cultural diversity and trade links; tax contributions.

Negative claims: Strain on public services (debated — migrants often net contributors); wage suppression for low-skilled natives (conflicting evidence); housing pressure in certain areas.

Theoretical lenses: Functionalist — role allocation; Marxist — cheap reserve army of labour; Weber — ethnic competition for resources.

Evaluation: Net economic effect often positive at national level but uneven locally — depends on policy, skills match, integration.

Conclusion: Migration generally benefits receiving economies but political debate focuses on distributional issues.

Part 1: Calculation of Remittances as a Percentage of GDP

Step 1: Identify the given values.

• Total Remittances = $36.1 billion
• Gross Domestic Product (GDP) = $405 billion

Step 2: State the formula. Percentage of GDP = (Total Remittances / GDP) * 100

Step 3: Substitute the values into the formula and calculate. Percentage of GDP = ($36.1 billion / $405 billion) * 100 Percentage of GDP ≈ 0.0891 * 100

Step 4: State the final answer. Answer: Remittances constituted approximately 8.9% of the Philippines' GDP in 2022.

Part 2: Sociological Explanation

Positive Consequence: This significant inflow of foreign currency (8.9% of GDP) is a major macroeconomic stabiliser. At a micro level, these remittances directly increase household income, funding education, healthcare, and small business start-ups, thereby reducing poverty and improving living standards for many families.

Negative Consequence: A major negative consequence is the 'brain drain'. Many of these overseas Filipino workers are highly skilled professionals, such as nurses, engineers, and IT specialists. Their departure represents a significant loss of human capital for the Philippines, hindering the development of its own domestic industries and public services (e.g., healthcare system). This creates a dependency on remittances rather than fostering sustainable internal economic growth.