As a result of increasing urban migration worldwide, population of rural areas is declining. While there are remarkable drawbacks of this trend, including social issues, I tend to believe that benefits, such as economic opportunities are more significant.
On the one hand, some argue that rural communities witness a sharp decline in professionals, which are crucial for their well-being and social progress. This issue concerns people employed in education and healthcare, in particular. For example, I grew up in a small town, where a local school was closed due to urban migration of many instructors, attracted by higher wages in the city. Consequently, students attended no school for almost year, which affected their social progress.
On the other hand, economic benefits of urban lifestyle are nothing else than appealing. First and foremost, city-dwellers enjoy access to much larger job market than in small towns. These positions, in most cases, are better paid, allowing employees to cover their living expenses, even in a metropolis. To illustrate, recent studies show that urban populations, enjoying a higher paycheck, are most likely to survive a recession than residents of rural areas.
In conclusion, although migration to cities has a negative impact on the countryside’s social development, including the pullback of essential professionals, I believe that a great deal of economic opportunities offered by the city can significantly improve people’s standard of living, which is the most convincing argument to me.