Essay 139 – Immigration has a major impact on society

GT Writing Task 2 / Essay Sample # 139

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

It is often said that immigration has a major impact on society.

What are the main reasons for immigration? What are the consequences of this immigration for the host country?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Write at least 250 words.

Model Answer:

Many people claim that immigration exerts a tremendous impact on social changes. There are several reasons for which people migrate to a different country. This essay will first explain why people migrate to another country and then focuses on the consequences of this phenomenon to the host country.

People immigrate for several reasons, ranging from security to job prospect and human rights to poverty. For a start, one of the most common causes of migration is that people perceive the need to leave their motherland to escape conflicts so as to stay safe. For instance, many individuals and families in war-torn Syria fled in order to escape from the fighting and threat. In addition, people often move from their country of birth to affluent countries where career prospects are bright. Moreover, many people flee abroad due to the fear of persecution for causes of politics, race or religion. For instance, many Jews fled Germany for fear of persecution during the Second World War.

Immigrants, however, reap the benefits to the host country. First and foremost, migrant workers offer enormous contributions to the labour market in low-skilled as well as high-skilled occupations. In fact, immigrants very often provide host nations with business leadership in innovating new products and industries. Intel, Google, eBay, and Yahoo! to name a few examples. In addition, cultural diversity is one of the overwhelming advantages of immigration to the recipient countries. That is to say that immigrants bring a new worldview, culture, and heritage, which, in turn, expand the horizon of natives. Another point worth noting is migrants also attribute negatively to the host country. For instance, it decreases the wages of competitive workers.

To conclude, every year hundreds of thousands of people leave their birthplaces to escape from conflict and danger, poverty, look for jobs, political liberty. Although there are some negative attributions, immigrants play a diverse socio-cultural, political and economic role in the host countries, as entrepreneurs, workers, and much more.