Kentucky Social Studies Standards Practice Test 2026 - Free Social Studies Practice Questions and Study Guide

People move because of forces that either push them away from a place or pull them toward another. These forces are called push and pull factors. Push factors are things that make living in a place difficult or dangerous—things like war, famine, lack of jobs, or natural disasters. Pull factors are the attractive conditions that draw people to a new place—such as better job opportunities, safety, good schools, or the chance to be with family.

This term is the best fit because it directly names the causes of movement. Other phrases describe patterns or where people end up (migration trends, population shifts) or reasons why someone might settle somewhere (settlement factors), but they don’t capture the dynamic of why people move in the first place as clearly as push and pull factors do.