Another Twist on the Brain Gain from Migration

Like most countries, the United States does not keep statistics on people who leave the country voluntarily. So, we have only a vague notion of who the ex-pats are. The New York Times has leapt into this void with a story about children of immigrants in the US who have chosen to go back to the country of their parents' origin because opportunities exist there that are more elusive in the US.

In growing numbers, experts say, highly educated children of immigrants to the United States are uprooting themselves and moving to their ancestral countries. They are embracing homelands that their parents once spurned but that are now economic powers.Some...had arrived in the United States as young children, becoming citizens, while others were born in the United States to immigrant parents.Enterprising Americans have always sought opportunities abroad. But this new wave underscores the evolving nature of global migration, and the challenges to American economic supremacy and competitiveness.For generations, the world’s less-developed countries have suffered so-called brain drain — the flight of many of their best and brightest to the West. That has not stopped, but now a reverse flow has begun, particularly to countries like China and India and, to a lesser extent, Brazil and Russia.

This is what has been called the brain gain--young people become educated in the US or Europe and then head off to the less developed countries of their recent ancestors, and help to move the economic ball forward in those places. My own view is that this is ultimately good for everyone. If this is a "challenge" to American economic supremacy and competitiveness it is a positive challenge because it means that the rest of the world is catching up with us, and we are going to have to be even more creative if we want to stay ahead of the pack. 

Even More Population Resources

My general goal is to provide a daily link to news items related to demographic trends and processes in the world, keeping in mind that almost everything is connected to demography in some way or another. In fact, there are many more things going on every day than I can keep track of. That is why it is valuable that my colleague here at San Diego State University, Shoshana Grossbard of our Economics Department, has a Facebook page to which she regularly posts items of demographic interest. Today, for example, she noted that:

from 2007 through 2009 marriages between Emiratis & foreigners rose 10% while the number of marriages between two Emiratis dipped 2%. cause seems to be that brideprice required to marry Emirati women is about 4 times higher. http://www.thenational.ae/news/uae-news/more-emiratis-are-marrying-foreigners-to-save-money.

Who would have guessed? Even if the prime motivation might be economic, this will almost certainly change the sociodemographics of the Emirates down the road.

Nigeria: Poster Child For Why Too Many Children Can Be Problematic

Nigeria is already the 7th most populous country in the world, with more than 160 million people. The United Nations Population Division projects that by 2050 it will have more than doubled to 390 million and this could make it the 4th most populous country. Two other sub-Saharan African countries--Ethiopia and Congo (Kinshasa) are also poised to be among the top twenty in population size by 2050. This is probably not good for anyone, and that point was made strongly in an article in today's New York Times.

As graduates pour out of high schools and universities, Nigeria’s unemployment rate is nearly 50 percent for people in urban areas ages 15 to 24 — driving crime and discontent.In Nigeria, experts say, the swelling ranks of unemployed youths with little hope have fed the growth of the radical Islamist group Boko Haram, which has bombed or burned more than a dozen churches and schools this year.
Internationally, the African population boom means more illegal immigration, already at a high, according to Frontex, the European border agency. There are up to 400,000 undocumented Africans in the United States.

These comments point to the classic issues surrounding a youth bulge, as Debbie Fugate and I discuss in our book of that name (yes, a shameless plug!). 

“Population is key,” said Peter Ogunjuyigbe, a demographer at Obafemi Awolowo University in the small central city of Ile-Ife. “If you don’t take care of population, schools can’t cope, hospitals can’t cope, there’s not enough housing — there’s nothing you can do to have economic development.”

Fertility is declining very slowly, but it is coming down from very high rates, and at the same time infant and childhood mortality rates are declining and that more than compensates for the modest drop in fertility.

There are signs that the shifting economics and lifestyles of middle-class Africans may help turn the tide, Dr. Ogunjuyigbe said. As Nigeria urbanizes, children’s help is not needed in fields; the extended families have broken down. “Children were seen as a kind of insurance for the future; now they are a liability for life,” he said.

Certainly in Ghana it is true that women in the capital city of Accra have fertility levels that are approaching replacement level. So we know that this can happen in a West African country, and it seems that much of this is due to the willingness and ability of women to delay marriage and avoid out-of-wedlock births. This is not something that can be imposed--it has to come from within, and it is not yet clear whether Nigeria will move in this direction. Of course, we used to say that about Brazil...

Copenhagen as a Beacon of Urban Sustainability

We humans increasingly live in cities, separate from nature and often paying little attention to the resources required to maintain our lifestyle. According to BBC News, Copenhagen, Denmark, has made a concerted effort to create a sustainable urban environment. This is pretty important, if you think about it, since if most of us live in cities and we want to sustain that life, then our urban life must be sustainable. Duh! 

While Denmark’s capital may not be perfect, its successes in a few key areas provide teaching points for metropolises around the world. Family is central to Danish life. According to BBC News, parents typically receive an entire year of maternity/paternity leave (which can be spread out over nine years), half fully paid and half up to 90% paid. In addition, government subsidies often cover 75% of pre-kindergarten childcare costs and the majority of education and healthcare. Culturally, BBC News adds, there is little pressure to work overtime, leaving people more time to spend with their families. 

As is true in other northern European countries, these measures help to keep fertility higher (close to, albeit slightly under, replacement) than in southern or eastern Europe.

The importance of liveability in Danish culture is exemplified in the sustainable infrastructure of its capital city. Copenhagen is friendly to pedestrians, and perhaps even friendlier to cyclists. Nearly 35,000 people (40% of residents) commute by bike each day, causing some to call Copenhagen the number one cycling city in the world. Sustainable architecture is also central to city policy. Most new buildings, for example, are required to have roofs covered with plants and vegetation, and most old buildings have been retrofitted to meet these standards. Green roofs reduce storm water runoff and help control the building’s interior climate, reducing both utility costs and greenhouse gas emissions. In addition city plans say that by 2015, 90% of residents will be able to walk to a green space in just 15 minutes.Copenhagen is also trying to diversify its energy portfolio, purchasing some wind energy, for instance, from the nearby Danish island of Samsø. Samsø is an inspiration for Denmark’s capital, as it is an entirely carbon-neutral island that produces 100% of its electricity with wind power.  

Here is the rub, of course:

While all of this leads to much higher taxes (Denmark has the highest income tax in the world), Danes are willing to bear the cost since, studies show, they have a high degree of trust in their government.

Now, the lesson is well-known, but one we regularly forget--TANSTAFL (there ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

Illegal Immigrants Become Scapegoats in Greece

Xenophobia means "fear of strangers" in Greek, and the Greeks are currently having a major spell of this. The financial crisis has allowed right-wing extremists to gain a voice, and are taking aim at undocumented immigrants in Greece, who are largely from South Asia, Albania, and Africa, according to a story in today's New York Times. 

With what critics say is a poorly policed border with Turkey, Greece is seen as an entry point for illegal immigrants, some of them asylum seekers but most intent on moving to more promising economic terrain in Northern and Western Europe. But many of the immigrants remain in Greece or are returned there after being deported from other countries in Europe. This has stoked fears here of an onslaught of illegal immigrants, who economists say bear little or no responsibility for Greece’s economic troubles but who make easy scapegoats for politicians across the spectrum.

The Socialists, who were in power when Greece asked for a foreign bailout, have seen their popularity plummet, and they are desperate for a way to reconnect with voters. This month, Greece’s public order minister, Michalis Chrisochoidis, a Socialist in the interim government of Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, said Greece would set up detention centers for illegal immigrants. And the Socialist health minister caused a stir when he said that Greece would require illegal immigrants to undergo checks for infectious diseases.

This is a familiar story, of course, for those of us in the US who have watched anti-immigrant legislation be introduced in state after state in response to the economic crisis of the past few years.