INTRODUCTION
In 2009 my family emigrated from England to New Zealand. They left England and had many reasons why. My mum chose New Zealand because of the many opportunities that it offered. This inquiry looks at the push and pull factors that influenced my parents and many others to leave their homeland and move to the small island nation at the bottom of the South Pacific
BIOGRAPHY
My Mum was born on July 8, 1972, in Liverpool, England. She lived with her Mum, Dad, and 3 younger siblings as well as many pets. She attended a catholic primary and secondary school until she was 16. After that, she went to college for a year to study languages and politics. Her first job was working for an insurance company in 1990, at the time she enjoyed working there and made many friends. Then she decided to work at a hospital as a care assistant and she decided to train as a mental health nurse. My mum met her husband in 2005 at a pub in Manchester. They found interest in moving to New Zealand in 2006 because they went on a holiday and heard great things about it.
PUSH FACTOR 1
My parents had negative and positive reasons to leave England. A major push factor is that England is overcrowded. England is the 4th largest nation in Europe and it has nearly the same landmass as New Zealand. Sometimes it can be hard getting to places because it can be packed full of people, traffic is also an issue on the roads and sometimes on the motorway. England's population size is now more than 55 million people. There were 249 people per square kilometer in 2008 and it has massively increased by 281 people per square kilometer in 2020 and is still steadily growing.
PUSH FACTOR 2
Another major problem is the unemployment rate. Unfortunately, I couldn't find any information about England's rate so I'll have to use the UK’s unemployment rate which was 7.54 percent in 2009, that’s an increase of 2% compared to 2008. My mum did have a job at the time working as a mental health nurse as she is currently doing today. Since there were fewer job opportunities, particularly young people, many people were living in poverty which increased the incidence of crime involving theft and drug use and my mum’s brother had a hard time finding the job that was suitable for him. The unemployment was most likely due to the global financial crisis.
If you don’t know what the global financial crisis was, it was an economic crisis that started in the US. banks started lending money for mortgages to people who couldn’t afford to pay it.
DISCUSSION OF PUSH FACTORS
After all the evidence that was said about why they wanted to leave, I feel like the most likely factor that pushed them out was that it was overcrowded. I think that is the reason because I have been to England before and it was hard to get around. The population was increasing and for example, it took my mum almost 2 hours every morning to travel 24 km. in 2008 Britain nearly has the same landmass as New Zealand and the population difference is big, in 2008 the population was over 55 million while New Zealand had over 4 million people.
PULL FACTOR 1
In 2008, New Zealand was the 4th safest country at the time when they thought of moving here, but unfortunately, there are still problems here with theft and assault in New Zealand. You will see police often present in the community, patrolling the streets and keeping people safe, and this is different compared to England. At the time they moved, there were terrorist threats. New Zealand at the time had a low crime rate, as well as violent crime, which makes it a good country to move to or visit. New Zealand has no dangerous wildlife or threats in the wild, and it is one of the least corrupt countries in the world.
PULL FACTOR 2
New Zealand is a place full of wonders, both natural and manmade. There is so much on this tiny island that is different from England that makes it a unique place to live or visit. Some of the destinations to go to are more exciting and beautiful destinations. One of the destinations my parents went to was Abel Tasman National Park. It is renowned for its golden beaches, calm azure waters, and sculpted granite headlands. There are many more reasons, like its unique culture, wildlife wonders, geothermal phenomena, and simply being a world-class country to live or visit.
DISCUSSION OF PULL FACTORS
To sum up, everything I've said about the 2 pull factors that pulled them to New Zealand, I think it was the safety here in New Zealand. I think that’s because my parents would want me to be safe in a safe place or area. Although England was relatively a safe place in 2008 and still is now, there are still issues you should be aware of, but overall, New Zealand is safer. At the time, pickpocketing was the most common crime and it happens in crowded areas or where a crime goes unnoticed.
CONCLUSION
All of these factors show why my parents moved to New Zealand. There were some good reasons and some negative ones but the most likely reason was the environment. I think that because the environment back in England was bad in the main cities but the farmlands had good scenery but New Zealand had amazing destinations and beautiful landscape. I am happy that my parents decided to move to a country that has many positive things about it and I couldn’t think of myself going back and living in England, but I might one day because most of my family is living there and I'll be able to spend time with them.
Bibliography
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