Lessons from Migrants on Happiness – Arthur C. Brooks

The most heated debates on immigration tend to revolve around the concept of unhappiness. One side would like to ease restrictions on migrants, usually due to the poverty conditions in their countries of origin and the suffering they endure during migration. The opposite side argues instead that migrants cause unhappiness to the inhabitants of the countries they come to because they reduce jobs, change culture or increase crime.

But what if we reverse the perspective and look at immigration through the lens of happiness? “Here hundreds of thousands of people have found the happiness they had sought in vain in European lands,” wrote CF Carlsson, a Swede who emigrated to Nebraska, in a letter addressed to his relatives who remained in his homeland in the 1880s. “Most of them arrived here without means, and many were in debt. But thanks to good will and great perseverance, within a few years they managed to obtain prosperity and often even wealth ”.

There is no way to verify these claims, not least because there were no happiness polls 140 years ago. Today, however, we have the tools to determine whether immigrants are happier than they were in their home countries. We can also analyze the effect of their presence on the happiness of the inhabitants of the countries where they arrive. By asking these questions, we can learn positive lessons about how to deal with life – both for those who decide to emigrate and for those who prefer to stay where they are.

Research
In 2018, researchers from Gallup and the Erasmus University of Rotterdam assessed the degree of happiness of migrants worldwide, using data from the Gallup world poll on 36,000 first-generation immigrants in 150 countries and territories. This is the largest study ever conducted on the subject. In most cases, the researchers found that emigrating had improved the standard of living. There was an average 9 percent increase in happiness among those who had done so.

The degree of improvement in conditions appears to vary according to origin and destination. Immigrants who have left Western Europe to move to Eastern Europe, for example, have not perceived an improvement in life, and the same is true for people who have moved between the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. In contrast, among those who left sub-Saharan Africa for Western Europe, happiness increased by an average of 29 percent.

This improvement is also seen among older migrants, who generally find themselves disadvantaged when they have to adapt to a new culture and a new language. In 2019, researchers studied more than 7,000 immigrants over 60 in the United States, noting that they too were actually happier after migration. The same researchers found that older immigrants were generally happier than older Americans, especially in the case of Hispanics.

An obvious explanation for the greater happiness of migrants is that many find financial opportunities in the country of adoption that did not exist in their country of origin. (This factor may explain why people moving from Western to Eastern Europe tend not to perceive benefits.) According to a 2021 immigration survey, 53 percent of first and second generation immigrants to the United States cite economic reasons as the main reason for choosing to emigrate.

Another reason is related to the entrepreneurial spirit. Entrepreneurs, regardless of their migratory status, tend to be happier than non-entrepreneurs, even with the same earnings. Researchers speculate that this factor is related to the control entrepreneurs have over their time and career. The percentage of entrepreneurs among immigrants is disproportionately high. Even the act of migration is in itself “entrepreneurial”, because it includes risk, confidence in the future and in the fact of being rewarded.

It is for this reason that in 1980 Ronald Reagan celebrated the spirit of immigrants in his acceptance speech of the Republican nomination for the presidency. “I ask you to recognize that the American spirit knows no ethnic, religious, social, political, regional or economic boundaries,” declared the future president. “It is the spirit that burns with zeal in the hearts of millions of immigrants from every corner of the earth”. Ironically, that memorable pro-immigration speech contained a phrase that would be repurposed as part of an anti-immigration program: “Make America great again.”

Reagan’s words suggest that immigrants are capable of making the rest of the community happier. It is a controversial claim, especially in our time, but studies show that open societies that welcome migrants experience an increase in happiness, while those that display a hostile attitude towards them experience a reduction in average well-being when immigration levels increase. In a country like Greece, where 82 percent of the population said they wanted fewer immigrants (or no immigrants) in 2018, the increase in immigration is likely to lead to a reduction in average happiness. The effect will be less noticeable in the United States, where the percentage was just 29 percent.

Teachings
The link between immigration and a country’s overall happiness is even more pronounced when immigrants are integrated into the country of adoption. A study based on data from Germany found that when immigrants work, earn, feel part of the new culture and speak the local language, German happiness increases. The relationship between assimilation and happiness is instead more complicated in the case of the immigrants themselves.

The most obvious lesson from research is that if a person is not happy in the country they live in, they will likely be happier if they can move to another city or country. Of course, it is legitimate to worry that the new situation may turn out to be worse than the old one, but immigrant studies indicate that the chances of improvement are greater.

A second lesson is that the link between entrepreneurial spirit and happiness is not a strictly economic phenomenon. Those who migrate live a “start-up” existence: they put social, religious and linguistic capital at risk; acts driven by confidence in oneself and in one’s future; it pursues great benefits, economic and not only. Regardless of migratory status, each of us should follow this approach, acting with courage and hope. Let’s take a non-economic example: if you are single and unhappy, imagine you are following an entrepreneurial path towards love. You put your heart at risk, with the confidence that you can accept even a humiliating rejection.

The third lesson is that when making a big change, remember that adopting a new lifestyle can bring benefits. Opposing change can make transitions more difficult than they already are. If you move to a new environment, for example, you will be tempted to make the new space as similar as possible to the old house, so that it is familiar and comfortable. By doing so, however, you are unconsciously declaring that the old life was better than the new. Better to adapt your habits, your tastes and your affections to the new life. If you travel from Chicago to New York, you learn to love the thin crust of the pizza. If you move from New York to Boston, try to cheer on the Red Sox, however this may seem contrary to natural law. God probably won’t electrocute you, and you might even make some local friends.

Finally, if you see many new people in your city, company, school, or church, remember that this will affect your well-being based on how you decide to welcome new arrivals. If you object, you will choose unhappiness. Instead, try to be happy to see new faces and help them integrate into the new community. This will make both you and them feel better.

If you have never moved to another city or country, trying to understand migrants may not be easy. First of all, in many countries they are often denigrated for political purposes. Furthermore, humans have a tendency to view immigrants as intruders, an element that could stem from tribal societies where foreigners were a natural threat.

Religions have invited us to fight this trend based on moral concepts. “You will not oppress the stranger: you too know his life, because you were foreigners in Egypt”, we read in the book of Exodus. Many governments and social organizations send us the same message.

But we can go a step further and realize that considering the positive side of immigration is good for everyone, not just foreigners. Immigrants are a model of life for all of us, they push us not to accept ours the status quo and to understand that we are not bound by the circumstances of our birth. For this reason, in front of them, we should feel not only reluctant acceptance, but admiration and gratitude.

(Translation by Andrea Sparacino)