No place like home

More than half of Jamaicans, polled on whether they would relocate to another country, said they would not leave the island of their birth. At the same time, of those who said they were willing to migrate, the majority selected the United States (US) as their number one destination.

That is according to the findings of the latest RJRGLEANER-commissioned Don Anderson poll, in which 56.8 per cent of respondents said they would not migrate, while 43.2 per cent said they would.

A total of 1,033 Jamaicans age 18 years and older participated in the national survey between May 18 and June 7. It has a margin of error of plus or minus three per cent.

The data showed that it is mostly the older participants who are unwilling to leave, with 86.5 per cent of those age 65 years or older indicating such. Of those age 55-64 years, 74 per cent said they would remain in Jamaica permanently. Of the participants age 45-54 years, 65.1 per cent said they had no interest in migrating.

Conversely, younger participants would leap at the opportunity to leave Jamaica. Some 71.2 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds said they would leave, along with 65.8 per cent of those who are between 25 and 34 years old. The majority, or 51.3 per cent, of those in the 35-44 age group also said they would migrate.

There was a three-percentage-point difference between the number of men (58.4 per cent) and women (55.5 per cent) who said they would not leave Jamaica.

Participants who indicated that they would migrate noted several countries for their likely destination, with the US being the top pick.

The North American country was selected by 49.9 per cent of those who said they would leave Jamaica, while neighbouring Canada ranked second with 42.6 per cent.

European countries and the United Kingdom (UK) were together the third most selected by respondents, at 23.2 per cent; while ‘another Caribbean country’ was in fourth with eight per cent. Countries in Asia were attractive to 4.8 per cent of the respondents.

Another 8.2 per cent of respondents who said they would migrate were not sure which country they would want to leave for.

The Planning Institute of Jamaica’s 2023 Economic and Social Survey Jamaica (ESSJ), the latest available, did not indicate the figure for Jamaicans who migrated to the US in that year.

However, available data from US Citizenship and Immigration Services indicate that 20,200 Jamaicans were naturalised in the 2023 financial year (October 2022 to September 2023). This represents a 12 per cent decrease from the 22,963 Jamaica-born migrants who were naturalised in the US in the 2022 financial year.

Jamaica was also listed as seventh among the top 10 countries from which citizens were naturalised for 2023.

The report stated that the US remained the main destination of choice for Jamaican migrants, relative to Canada and the UK.

Migration to the US increased by 23.4 per cent in 2022, compared with 2021. Data revealed that Jamaicans mainly migrated as immediate relatives to US citizens or were sponsored by family.

Migration related to employment was third on the list of categories of Jamaicans who obtained permanent resident status.

Meanwhile, the ESSJ report stated that of the 4,340 Jamaicans granted permanent resident status in Canada in 2023, 78 per cent, or 3,390, were in the working-age population of 15-64 years.

The 30-34 age group had the largest proportion of admissions of permanent residents from Jamaica, accounting for 13.5 per cent.

In 2023, some 1,982 Jamaicans were granted citizenship by naturalisation or registration in the UK, representing a 0.9 per cent increase compared with 2022.

kimone.francis@gleanerjm.com