Key Highlights

CHAPTER THREE

WATER, MIGRATION, AND HUMAN CAPITAL SPILLOVERS

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

– Emma Lazarus, “The New Colossus”

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• Evidence suggests that water shocks influence not only the number of people who move, but also the skills they bring with them.

• Workers that leave regions because of dry shocks and droughts are lowerskilled than those that migrate otherwise, and have lower predicted earnings.

• These migrants and their families may still be better off because migration allows them to adapt to risks of water variability in the absence of other options.

• Policy response must ensure that migrants have access to the education and resources required to improve productivity, mobility, and integration across regions