Migration and poverty

Migration can both cause and be caused by poverty. Similarly, poverty can be alleviated as well as exacerbated by population movement. Easy generalizations are impossible to make but it is likely that the relative impact of migration on poverty, and of poverty on migration, varies by level of development of the area under consideration. In some parts of the world and under certain conditions, poverty may be a root cause of migration, whereas in other parts, under different conditions, the poor will be among the last to move. Equally, in some areas, migration may be an avenue out of poverty while in others it contributes to an extension of poverty.