Women migrants' remittances
From Wikiprogress.org
Remittances are the amount of money that migrants send back to their family left behind. Several studies showed that they have an impact on development and poverty.
In 2005, remittances represented about US$232 billion, of which developing countries received US$167 billion according to the World Bank. However, this amount only includes money transferred through formal channels. Thus, remittances are a lot larger than official development aid. Furthermore, they sometimes constitute an important part of a country’s GDP. In Moldova, Lesotho or Haiti, they represent about 25% of the national GDP. [1]
Women now represent about 49.6% of global migratory flows according to an UN-INSTRAW study.[2]
Contents |
The specificity of women migrants’ remittances
The total amount of money women send may seem lower than the total amount of money sent by men, but we have to take into consideration that on average, women receive less pay for equal work. Furthermore, women tend to occupy low-paid jobs, being on average less able to send greater amounts of money. Nevertheless, data shows that women send a higher proportion of their earnings and that they do so regularly and consistently.[3]
Beneficiaries of remittances
A study by UN-INSTRAW in the Dominican Republic shows that 80% of women migrants’ remittances go to other women. Therefore, remittances contribute to women's empowerment. Another positive outcome is that when they send remittances, women migrants gain more autonomy and negotiating power within the household.[2]
How remittances are used in the receiving country
Consumption or productive investment?
Studies show that in general, remittances are mainly used for family well-being, including education, health, basic consumption needs and house construction. They are rarely used for “productive investment” such as starting a business, opening a shop, etc. Remittances are mainly used for human and physical capital improvement, such as education and health. This can also be seen as a long-term investment or virtuous circle. Remittances tend to favour girls as they are the ones lacking from education and the first ones to suffer from poor health, and women who migrate and send remittances back home tend to favour girls’ empowerment and education. [3]
Economic or social remittances?
Some scholars differentiate between economic and social remittances, the latter being ideas, skills or knowledge: some women may have a stronger impact on the situation in their home country when they are abroad. For example, some Afghan expatriate women had a strong role in convincing their counterparts remained in Afghanistan to participate in the creation of the new constitution.[1] Furthermore, women migrants who are educated abroad can have a positive impact on the improvement of child health and the reduction of mortality rates.
Individual or collective remittances?
Collective remittances are sent through a group of people, mainly through the diaspora. It has been shown that these remittances rarely benefit women, except for a few exceptions. Among them, we can cite the Netherlands Filipino Association Overseas which uses the remittances received to support women through microcredit and the creation of small firms in the Philippines.[3] This association is an example of how women take control of their remittances. However, overall women still lack the decision-making power over their money, both on the sending and receiving ends. To counter that, more and more migrant women organise themselves into groups in order to manage the way the remittances are sent, their amount, as well as who they will benefit.[3]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 “UNFPA State of the World Population 2006: A Passage to Hope, Women and International Migration” by UNFPA, 2006.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “Gender, migration, remittances and development” by UN-INSTRAW, November 2006.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 UNFPA State of World Population 2006
External links
- Women migrants and remittances on Eldis
- Highlighting Importance of Women Migrants’ Remittances”, Statement by Ms. Purnima Mane, UNFPA Deputy Executive Director (Programme), at Expert Meeting on Maximizing the Development Impact of Remittances, in Geneva, February 14, 2011.
- Trang Nguyen, Ririn Purnamasari, “Impacts of International Migration and Remittances on Child Outcomes and Labor Supply in Indonesia. How does Gender Matter?”, Policy research working paper 5591, The World Bank, March 2011.
- “Integrating migration and remittances into LDC national and regional development planning, including through a gender perspective”, an event organised by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment (UN Women) in May 2011 in Istanbul, Turkey.
