Covid-19 Insecurities and Migration Aspirations

Miranda Simon, Cassilde Schwartz, David Hudson

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Abstract

Using an original survey, this paper examines how pandemic-driven insecurities
have affected aspirations to migrate internationally among youth in
The Gambia. We nd that individuals perceive wide inequalities between
their government's performance and the speed of Covid-19 recovery abroad.
However, superior recovery abroad does not have significant effects on aspirations to migrate. Individual and local sources of security are more important: Individuals who were able to maintain their jobs throughout the pandemic are less likely to aspire to move abroad. The insecurity of Covid-19 job loss may be compensated by condence in one's government's ability to tackle the pandemic. This suggests that, in the context of an event that has upended people's lives, would-be migrants who managed to maintain a source of stability may seek comfort in familiar contexts; even if they appear worse
than alternatives abroad.
Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Interactions
Early online date7 Jan 2022
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 7 Jan 2022

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