Immigration: When? Where? Why?.
When (at what age) do people immigrate?
Statistically, most immigrants are between 25 and 50 years old. And there are good reasons for that. People in their early twenties are still in college, studying, looking around and trying to figure out what’s good for them and what’s not. So usually it would be too early to even want to make such a decision.
On the other hand, for people older than 50 it may be harder to make a big career restart (I am talking about those who had a meaningful career in their country of origin) in a new country, most of people also find that it’s harder to learn a new language. Some people are also feeling that they are less open to a change and do not want to work on this issue.
In general, I think one should keep fears from confusing one’s mind and conduct thorough research in order to evaluate the chances of immigration to be successful.
Why do people immigrate?
People are moving for various reasons and from different countries. Many immigrants have this feeling that majority of immigrants are coming from the same country of origin as they are, but in reality you can find immigrants from different countries all over the world.
Globalization and personal preferences
So why people leave one country to go to another? Sometimes people would relocate from such countries as USA, Canada, Australia, Germany, France or UK. While others wouldn’t even understand why one would want to leave those countries…
Every person is looking for something different, everyone has needs and desires of their own. Some will seek what’s best for them and make a move and some would stay and either try to change things in their country or make the best they can from a given reality. One could look at this from various perspectives, psychological, financial, cultural, spiritual or esoteric. Each such perspective deserves an article of its own, discussing various aspects starting from taxes and all the way to the feeling of harmony and inner peace that we sometimes experience in one country or city much more than in the other.
One could easily recall from traveling that in some places you would just feel like it is YOUR place and in some other places – completely the opposite. It’s like when tourists from the same country and culture would travel to the same city and have completely different opinions about it.
Obstructing well-being circumstances and tendencies
Back to the topic of immigration, sometimes there can be seen a tendency that, there are lots of immigrants coming from the same country or region.
It would usually point to a problem in this country:
- Economic problems – high cost of living, luck of jobs, low salaries
- Political problems – for example laws infringing human rights and freedoms.
- Religion problems– Religious pressure or on the contrary religious intolerance suppression of religious freedom rights.
- Safety problems – racism, LGBT intolerance, high crime, poor or corrupt law enforcement; or the worst of all – War. For example One could notice how big Armenian, Jewish and Ukrainian diasporas are, that’s due to the fact that those nations were being haunted and prosecuted throughout the history of countries where they lived.
Social problems
Another thing worth mentioning is that sometimes the majority of immigrants from some country would have something in common, like nationality, ethnic groups, having a first language other than the main one in the country, or excessively stratified society.
Seeing a high percentage of the specific population living the country identifies that they are not feeling comfortable and accepted by society there. Sometimes countries would make some changes in order to stop people from leaving and sometimes – not. In this case, people will face three choices: to stay in their country trying to bring a social change to their society, accept the situation as it is and adapt to it as much as they can, or to leave.
To move or not to move?
To summarize, immigration is different for each person and for each family. It involves various factors concerning the country of origin, country of destination, personal and cultural backgrounds, needs, and values. It is important to figure out what is meaningful for you and your family’s well-being and then it will become much easier for you to conduct research and figure out how to make the move.
Thinking to Immigrate or not? Check information about our IMMIGRATION COACHING program.
PS: Please be aware, that this and any other articles on “The Person of Spirit” website are my personal opinion and conclusions that are NOT guided to action \ inaction or legal advice of any kind.
Bibliography and recommended articles:
En: Immigrant and Emigrant Populations by Country of Origin and Destination:
Castelli F. “Drivers of migration: why do people move?”
Journal of Travel Medicine, Volume 25, Issue 1, 2018, tay040,
Connor P. (2012) “Faith on the Move. The Religious Affiliation of International Migrant” Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion & Public Life
Zaiceva A. (2014) , “The impact of aging on the scale of migration” University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, and IZA, Germany
He: https://www.cbs.gov.il/he/mediarelease/DocLib/2019/242/01_19_242b.pdf